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Formerly 
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Painting and Decorating 




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The Modern 

Wood Finisher 



A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON 

Wood Finishing in all its Branches 

INCLUDING 

TOOLS AND MATERIALS EMPLOYED, PREPARATION OF SUR- 
FACES, STAINS AND STAINING, FILLERS AND FILLING, 
SHELLACKING, VARNISHES AND VARNISHING, 
RUBBING, POLISHING, FRENCH POL- 
ISHING, WAX POLISHING, OIL 
POLISHING, ETC., ETC. 



Also a Full Description of the Woods Employed in 

Wood Finishing, their Treatment, and 

the Finishing of Floors. 



By F. MAIRE, 

Formerly Editor of "PAINTING AND DECORATING. 



Chicago, U. S. A. 

Press of The Western Painter, 

1901. 



!H 



\(\^' 



> 



THE LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

Two Copies Received 

MAY. 27 1901 

Copyright ektkv 

CLASS CVxXc. N«. 

COPY 3. 



COPYRIGHT, 1901, 

BY 
CHARLES H. WEBB. 



/Z< 



PREFACE. 

The subscriber wrote a series of articles on wood 
finishing in all its branches, which embodied his obser- 
vations of the practice of the same in all the leading fur- 
niture factories and large paint shops in the country. 

These articles appeared in The Western Painter in 
1898 and the early part of 1899, and were well received 
by the trade. However, as from necessity, caused by 
want of time, they were hurriedly written and some parts 
not having received as much attention as they should, it 
was decided to rewrite these entirely, adding consider- 
ably to the text and illustrating the same wherever pos- 
sible to do so to make it plainer and better understood as, 
for instance, in the appliances used in wood finishing. 

While nearly every branch of "Painting" and "Pa- 
per Hanging" has been written upon and have had doz- 
ens of treatises published in handy book form, wood fin- 
ishing has had but few exponents of the art in that form, 
therefore the conclusion come to to publish this in a 
handy volume for ready reference or consultation. 

While it is not claimed that the practical, first-class 
wood finisher will receive very much addition to his store 
of knowledge by the perusal of the contents of this vol- 

6 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

ume, yet the great majority of painters and contractors, 
who have not made that branch of the trade a specialty, 
will welcome it, will be interested, and, it is hoped, bene- 
fitted by adding it to their shop library. 

From many letters received from practical painters, 
it is very evident that there exists a great deal of ignor- 
ance among the craft of the simplest principles of wood 
finishing, or else many queries would not have been 
made. To all such, and also for those who know but who 
forget and need a work of this kind as a manual of refer- 
ence to brighten up the memory, this little volume is 

dedicated. 

F. MAIRE- 
Hamilton, III., Christmas, ipoo. 



CHAPTER I. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The employment of hardwoods in the interior con- 
struction of modern dwellings has become so common of 
late years, especially since the best quality of white pine 
has become both very scarce and dear and costs very nearly 
as much for finishing as many kinds of hardwood do, the 
only item of saving by using it being its greater ease of 
working by the joiner, so that there are few houses being 
constructed now, wherein hardwoods are not used at least 
for the so-called best rooms such as front and back par- 
lors, library, sitting rooms, dining rooms, halls vestibules 
and stairways. In the better class of structures the whole 
house, including bed rooms, is now finished in hard- 
woods, cheaper varieties being used in the less preten- 
tious parts. 

This condition is one that has been created not only 
by Dame Fashion, but stern necessity has had and will 
have as much to do in keeping it up in the future as any- 
thing else, and such use is bound to become more and 
more universal. Those who are well posted upon the fu- 
ture of the lumber markets say that it does not require a 
man to be a prophet nor even the son of a prophet to pre- 
dict what will be the outcome of the present extensive 
use of white pine in the near future. Our reserves are 
nearly gone and very little good old-fashioned No. 1 fin- 

5 



THE MOBEBN WOOD FINISHER. 

ishing lumber is to be found in our markets today. What 
will it be in twenty-five years? 

It is therefore forced upon the house painters or 
house contractors that they should have a good, or at 
least a fair, knowledge of how hardwoods should be fin- 
ished or else they must find themselves at a great disad- 
vantage in the carrying on of their business. 

Our large city paint shops usually have a separate 
department for this class of work; also a separate foreman 
in charge of it with frequently a separate set of workmen, 
who do nothing else but wood finishing. It is not, there- 
fore, so much for their benefit that this treatise is written, 
but for the use of that vast multitude who cannot make a 
separate department of their wood finishing business and 
of that still larger class of painters residing in the smaller 
towns who usually are their own foremen and at times, at 
least, must be their own workmen, and at all times or 
places must be at least able to direct them. 

All these must possess a personal knowledge of all the 
details pertaining to wood finishing to enable them to 
to know how to contract for this class of work at remu- 
nerative prices as well as to enable them to do the work 
in a manner that will be a credit to them as well as pleas- 
ing and acceptable to their customers or a supervising ar- 
chitect. 

Hardwood finishing may be termed a new thing. At 
least, in so far as it is now performed it is rather of com- 
paratively recent introduction. There is little or nothing, 



THE MODEBN WOOD FINISHES. 

therefore, to find relative to it in ancient literature. The 
little there is of it is so misleading as to be absolutely- 
worthless, unless it be to trace the progress made of late 
years by this beautiful art (?)— pseudo art at least. 

Why not an art? If to take a commonplace thing and 
by skill render it beautiful to look upon constitutes art in 
other lines, why not in this? A piece of wood finished in 
the highest degree of polish attainable is a thing of beauty, 
fully as much so as a great deal of the stuff that goes as 
art under the high-sounding name of water or oil colors, 
etchings, pastel work, etc., and is received and accepted 
under that name by a long-suffering public. Certainly 
the highly finished piece of hardwood has required as 
neat, as careful, and as dexterous handling to produce it, 
and in most cases as much intelligence, technical knowl- 
edge and love of the beautiful on the part of the producer 
as the average production of the so-called artist has. 

But be that as it may, let the wood finisher be called 
an artist or an artisan, as said before wood finishing is 
rather of recent origin. Only a quarter of a century — 
twenty-five years — have elapsed since wood finishing has 
commenced to take its modern development. Previous to 
that date ordinary furniture was simply varnished with a 
cheap-made article and turned out in a still cheaper look- 
ing way. The medium grades were wax polished and 
the high priced were finished by the methods now usually 
known as French polishing. While it is true that by that 
process a very fine polish or finish is possible, nevertheless 

7 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

the process is so tedious and expensive as to make it only 
within the reach of the rich, and the highly polished sur- 
faces now better known as a piano finish, which has sup- 
planted the French polish almost universally, has made 
it possible for even the very poor to have at least a few 
finely-finished hardwood specimens about their homes, 
and the great medium class of people, who are neither 
rich nor poor, can indulge their love of the beautiful to 
their hearts' content in a manner which even the rich 
would have thought extravagant in bygone days — not 
only indulging this love for the beauties of nature as de- 
veloped in the endless variations of the different grains of 
the wood as enriched and brought out by the finisher in a 
few specimen articles of furniture, but in the whole wood- 
work of their dwellings, including wainscot, dadoes, ceil- 
ings, doors and casings, baseboards — all the woodwork in 
short. 

This immense extension and addition made of the 
use of hardwoods has been made possible by the simplifi- 
cation of the processes used in bringing about the highly 
finished surfaces of the present at a comparatively low 
cost of production. 

While it is true that fine furniture received as fine a 
polish as any that is produced today by French polishing, 
even this is of rather recent origin. Certainly not over 
one hundred and ten or fifteen years ago. It is within the 
memory of many of the older men yet living when 
French polishing began to be known to more than a very 



THE MODEBN WOOD FINISHER. 

few. In England and in America among artisans of Eng- 
lish descent this finish was known and occasionally is still 
heard of under the name of "Vernis Martin" finish which 
translated would simply mean that it was finished with 
Martin's varnish, which may or may not have been cor- 
rect — in fact was, and is now, incorrect as that firm has 
ceased to exist for many many years and varnished sur- 
faces were never designated as "Vernis Martin finished" 
but only such as came under the designation of French 
polished, so that the terms are interchangeable and could 
be and are used to designate the same kind of finish. 

Wood finishing may be said to have commenced a 
new era, when a finish was devised that in looks was 
about equal to French polish — in durability very nearly 
as good, and that could be finished in one-tenth part of the 
time. Nevertheless as there are to be found today a very 
few men who are willing to pay for and still demand this 
old-fashioned kind of a finish a special chapter has been 
added to describe the methods to produce French polish. 
It must be understood that in former times each individ- 
ual considered himself sole keeper of every process used 
in wood finishing and kept his method secret, guarding 
them as closely as possible in order to keep them from be- 
coming public property. Each step was a secret and not a 
few made good money by going around among the shops 
selling some of their secret recipes, usually under a rigor- 
ous oath of secrecy and for shop use only. Many got as 
much as $50 for such recipes and as it covered only apart 

9 



THE MODE EN WOOD FINISHER. 

of the knowledge necessary, unless the rest was already 
mastered, it happened that several such outlays were nec- 
essary to equip one for the business. So that a wood fin- 
isher who was fully equipped to bring the wood to a 
perfect finish had quite a little capital invested in his 
knowledge, either as paid out in hard cash for his recipes 
or in some five to seven years of a rigorous apprentice- 
ship served without pay or received as a legacy irom 
father or relatives to whom he succeed in the business as 
heir. 

The slowness and uncertainties of the old processes 
have about relegated them to oblivion and the younger 
wood finisher, who has learned the trade within the last 
two decades, can hardly realize that his knowledge is of 
so recent a date, and when he hears his elders talking 
over the past most of it sounds like Chinese to him and 
he only has looks of pity or commisseration to give 
them. 

The above remarks giving a very brief review of the 
short past of wood finishing conclude all that will be said 
regarding the history of the trade. Life is too short and 
space too valuable to devote it to a retrospect that would 
not be of any use to the inquirer after practical knowl- 
edge. 

As most processes in hardwood finishing are applica- 
ble with some few modifications to all kinds of wood, it 
has been thought best to consider them under a specific 
heading regardless of any particular kind of wood, so 

10 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

that they will be brought up under the following general 
headings. 

Sandpapering. 

Staining and stains. 

Filling and fillers. 

Shellacking. 

Varnishing. 

Rubbing. 

Polishing. 

French Polishing. 

First of all the various brushes, tools and appliances 
used in wood finishing will be treated of and illustrations 
consecutively numbered will be given so that it may help 
to obviate any misunderstanding of the descriptive text of 
such tools or appliances. When it may become neces- 
sary to make reference to any such tools in subsequent 
chapters, the number of the cut only need be given. This 
will prevent the reader from becoming mixed up. 

After the general description of processes, a short 
description of the leading hardwoods used in wood finish- 
ing will be given. It will consist of a short sketch in- 
cluding the best methods to treat them, but how to pro- 
ceed to execute them will be found only in the full des- 
cription given under the special headings. The reader 
will do well to read and reread these, as it will save him 
many a misunderstanding afterward. 

The line of demarkation between hardwoods and soft 
woods is an imaginary one, and of necessity it is made an 

11 



THE MODEBN WOOD FINISHEB. 

arbitrary one. It has become an almost universal custom 
to place all woods that are not white pine in the hard- 
wood category, leaving only that under the appellation of 
soft wood. One may say that there is inconsistency in 
placing cottonwood, for instance, or bass in the hardwood 
line, but for a general treatment all these have certain 
peculiarities different from white pine, and as they are so 
little used in either furniture making or the construction 
of a house, this incongruous grouping may well be ac- 
cepted without hurt therefrom. 

The same may also be said of open-grained and close- 
grained woods. Some woods are neither one nor the other, 
and it would be very difficult to class them, if only two 
classes of treatment were considered. With general di- 
rections and the directions given under each wood to 
which, of course, the reader must add a good dose of 
common sense, there is no reason why even a novice may 
not be able to do a passable piece of work. In this in- 
stance the word passable is used purposely, as it is not to 
be supposed for a minute but that the novice will improve 
with his word as long probably as he lives — even should 
he practice daily to a good old age. 

Many operations that are simple enough to either 
look at or understand the description of, such as flowing 
varnish, for instance, are a good deal easier understood 
than done. Practice will make a man perfect, and noth- 
ing else will. 

White pine receives attention under a special head- 
12 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHEB. 



ing, as it is frequently finished in its natural color or 
stained, and on account of its easy working properties 
and of its cheapness in certain sections of the country, it 
is still extensively used, and while it lasts will be used 
until its complete extinction. 



13 



CHAPTER II. 



GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 



There are a few general principles which govern the 
finishing of all hardwoods that should be well understood 
before proceeding to the ' ' modus operandi. ' ' These prin- 
ciples are briefly laid down in the following paragraphs. 

All kinds of woods are made up of fine thread-like 
filaments, or rather ligaments. When these ligaments 
are bundled together they form the trunk and limbs of 
trees. These thread-like ligaments are very fine in some 
woods while in others they are very coarse. When the 
former condition prevails the wood is said to be "close 
grained-" when, on the contrary, it is the latter that is 
the case, it is known as "coarse grained-" with any 
amount of variations between the extremes of each class 
or between the very coarsest and the very finest grained 
ones. 

Again in some woods the ligaments lay together in a 
straight, close manner as would so many broomsticks 
bundled up; others are twisted in and out, seemingly 
crossing each other at all sorts of angles or running along 
in wave-like motions. 

If in the former case the wood is sawn lengthwise in 
the usual fashion, it will be found that the alternate lay- 
ers of ligaments and pores have a certain look of uniform - 

14 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

ity and the wood is technically known as "straight 
grained. ' ' 

If the tangled or wavy-motioned grained wood is 
sawn in the same manner, the saw will have cut across 
both filaments and pores and the boards will present a 
beautifully variegated appearance. These variations 
make the beauty that distinguishes the various hardwoods 
and each has some of its own, which it is one of the pur- 
poses of wood finishing to develop, enrich and emphasize 
and to bring to view the most beautiful traits and charac- 
teristics. 

The woods which are made up of a regular succes- 
sion of filaments have a somewhat monotonous appear- 
ance, such as ash, chestnut, cypress, etc., excepting al- 
ways, of course, where some obstacle has prevented the 
regular growth, as where it has been hindered by either 
knots, curves or natural bendings as where some other 
tree has fallen across it in the forest, or where it has been 
done artificially as is the case where timber is cultivated. 
If, forinstance,the body has been cut into, new layers of 
ligaments grow over the wounds and when these are sev- 
ered by the saw the wood will show up a variegated or mot- 
tled surface entirely foreign to its ordinary appearance. A 
very noticeable instance of this is to be found in "Pollard 
Oak' ' but we see very little of this in America, as the prac- 
tice of Pollardizing trees is almost unknown here and it is 
only in imported veneers that we ever get to see it here. 

The fibres or ligaments that have not been severed 
15 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

are hard, (varying with the different woods) form the 
light part of the woods, and are known technically as 
"lights." Even in the same woods the appearance of 
these lights varies very much according to whether they 
have been sawn in the usual way or whether the same 
have been "quarter sawn" as it is termed. 

The spaces between the filaments are knownas^r^. 
It is through these that the sap flows, so that really pores 
are hollow conduits, which, when the wood has become 
throughly dried and freed from its liquid sap, will absorb 
liquids. 

It must be apparent, then, to everyone that wood 
must be entirely free from sap or must have become thor- 
oughly dried if a durable finish is to be expected, for if it 
has not, no matter how careful one may have been 
throughout the whole process of finishing, trouble will 
surely come and that before very long. 

These pores, as one can readily see, vary very much 
in size according to the thickness of the fibres of the va- 
rious woods. Now, if varnish be applied to the wood, no 
matter how carefully it may have been laid on, sandpa- 
pered or rubbed, it will be found to have sunk into the 
wood through the hollow conduits or pores. While a 
portion of the varnish has disappeared through these, 
there will be a fair portion of it that will adhere to the 
top as well as the sides of the fibres, presenting to the 
eye when dry, anything but a perfect level, but rather a 
succession of hills and valleys. 

16 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

Subsequent coats of varnish applied over it and 
rubbed will hardly improve its appearance and will not 
level it. It is, of course, within the possibilities by giv- 
ing a sufficient number of coats of varnish and of rubbing 
them down between each coat to finally bring the surface 
to a level, but such a way of obtaining it would be both 
slow and expensive. 

It is a fact well worth remembering, and one of the 
fundamental first principles of wood finishing, that the 
less varnish applied to wood for the purpose for which it 
is used, i.e., to give it a lustre, the more transparent and 
beautiful will the grain of the wood appear. Numerous 
coats of the most limpid varnish greatly affect, mar and 
detract from the clearness which the same wood would 
present had it been finished with only one or two coats 
instead— put on according to right methods over a proper 
preparation for it. 

It will bear repeating even to a tedious degree that 
for good finishing only a minimum amount of varnish 
should be used; that the clearness and bright appearance 
of every detail of the wood is the brighter for a lesser 
amount of varnish; that if one coat will do this, it is folly 
to apply two to undo it While one coat will not always 
do nor be sufficient to rub and polish, two will, and those 
who apply three and four to get a good polish have not 
attended to the perfect preparation of the wood to receive 
the varnish. 

One may well and readily conjecture from the read- 
17 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

there should be a perfectly level or filled-up surface (fill- 
ing of the above that it is of the utmost importance that 
ing up of the pores) so that when the varnish is applied 
it will flow upon a perfect, glass-like surface. The sur- 
face must be not only perfectly level but in addition per- 
fectly non-absorbent, for if it is not the object for which 
the filling has been done has failed of its object or rather 
of one of its objects, i. e., to prevent the absorption of the 
varnish into the wood and to make it bear up instead. 

It goes without the saying that this important oper- 
ation is known under the name of " Filling." It will be 
treated at length under that heading, for it is absolutely 
indispensable that this operation be well understood and 
well performed to make a success of wood finishing. 

It was seen that the wood should be well filled and 
leveled before varnish is applied to it, therefore it stands 
to reason that any change in the color of the wood that is 
to be finished must necessarily take place before the fill- 
ing is performed. 

As water stains are usually used in coloring woods, 
and as these open up the pores of the wood in such a way 
that it requires sandpapering to level it up again, it is ab- 
solutely necessary that it should take place before the fill- 
ing. The relative merits of various methods of staining 
in either water, spirits or oil is not a question for us to 
consider now as this will receive attention under its proper 
heading; it is simply noted here that such an operation 
must take place previousto filling if done with water stains. 

18 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

These few general principles constitute the ground 
work upon which wood finishing is built up. When one 
understands the nature of wood — of its component parts, 
he must see that the pores must be closed before any per- 
manent polishing materials can be applied. He must also 
now understand that no varnish is so limpid but that it 
will become viscid if many coats are applied and mar the 
beautiful finish instead of helping it out. 

Bearing these points in mind will enable one to com- 
prehend nearly all other operations or processes that will 
be hereafter described. It will enable one to at least see 
the why and wherefore of most of them. 



19 



CHAPTER III. 

TOOLS AND APPLIANCES USED IN WOOD FINISHING. 

To do good work one must have suitable tools to do it 
with. There seems to be a diversity of opinion as to 
what are the best tools to use, and the same may be said 
concerning the brushes employed in wood finishing, as 
well as in every method of doing a given piece of work; 
and it is probable that no two manufacturers of furniture 
nor any two head finishers have exactly the same meth- 
ods for doing a similar kind of finishing nor do they use 
the same tools. If this disagreement proves anything it 
is the fact that there is more in good workmanship than 
in the tools themselves, and that a man who has become 
an expert at handling a certain kind of tool, need not 
be in a hurry to give it up, simply because Mr. So and So 
tells him that he is behind the times in using what he 
says he would not have in his shop under any considera- 
tion. 

It may be noticed daily in the furniture manufactur- 
ing sections, that there are men who do the best of finish- 
ing with tools that are condemned by others as worthless, 
so that the great amount of praise that is given by one 
man for a certain tool may be, after all, that it only has a 
fancied superiority over another. 

20 



TEE MODEBN WOOD FIN1SHEB. 

Yet there are some tools that are better than others 
for doing certain kinds of work, and to give the reader a 
good idea of what he wants or needs to have for the fin- 
ishing business is the purpose of this chapter. 

The tools used in wood finishing are mainly 
"brushes" yet there a few articles and appliances that are 
indispensable to the finisher, and every shop should have 
a supply large or small according to the amount of work 
done, of the following, to wit: 

Pulverized Pumice Stone — (Italian.) — Make sure of 
this, as the home article, which comes mainly from Utah, 
scratches and is not fit for good finishing. It comes in 
different degrees of fineness, the sizes mostly used in fin- 
ishing being FF, F, 0, and 0}4, FF being the finest. 

Sandpaper — Use the best only. Some of the cheaper 
kinds have only one ply paper for a backing. As sandpa- 
per has to be split occasionally this would be impossible 
with the cheap grades. Beside it cracks badly and has no 
elasticity. Sandpaper numbers most used are 0, j4, 1, and 
1)4 , being the finest named. 

Rotten Stone — English — Pulverized and in brick 
form. 

Tripoli and Polishing Powders. 

Silex — finely pulverized — Light-colored for making 
a transparent filler; dark-colored where it is to be used in 
filling dark-colored or stained woods. 

Curled Moss. 

Horse Hair (curled) and Hair Cloth. 
21 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

Excelsior shavings, and soft wood sawdust for clean- 
ing off fillers. 

Cotton waste for same purpose. 

Hemp or flax tow, also for cleaning off fillers. 

Chamois skins. 

Old soft silk, cloth or handkerchiefs. 

While it would seem that some of the above should 
have come in under the heading of "material" and would 
have been more appropriately mentioned and described 
there, yet in a way they partake of the nature of appli- 
ances used in preparing the wood for the finishing mate- 
rial that remains and becomes a part of the finish. 

As it has been stated before, there are as many dif- 
ferent views as to tools as there are finishers to express 
them. To note and describe each and every one would 
swell this chapter far beyond the limits intended for it, so 
only the most worthy of mention are noticed. 

Among the appliances which are used in the making 
or the handling of water stains is the* Vessel" which is to 
contain them. As the materials from which stains are 
usually made are either corrosive, acid or alkaline and 
seldom neutral, vessels made of iron and unprotected are 
forbidden for the purpose. Nothing better will be found 
for such a use than "porcelain lined" kettles or tanks. 
They can be readily cleaned, for their surfaces are as 
smooth as polished plate glass and a lot of valuable time 
will be saved in keeping them clean. Where the staining 
is done by dipping, porcelain lined tanks will also be 

22 



THE MODEBN WOOD FINISHEB. 

found the most effective for the same reasons as are stated 
above. The next best vessels made are "wooden" ones, 
that have been smoothly finished inside. The one great- 
est trouble with wooden vessels, however, is that they 
shrink when not constantly used, the consequence being 
that there is more or less trouble caused by leakage. 
Even when well made, if one will take into consideration 
the extra time needed in cleaning them and in keeping 
them in good condition for future use, they will be found 
fully as expensive as the porcelain-lined metal tanks. As 
the proper form to give these is a matter of fancy and 
convenience and as each one must settle for himself ac- 
cording to the size of the pieces he wishes to dip as to 
what is best for his use, no directions need be given fur- 
ther than what has already been said. There are many 
concerns in the market who make a good variety of small 
and large porcelain-lined tanks and who make any spec- 
ially designed ones to order. 

Rubbing Felt is another indispensable article much 
used by the wood finisher. There are many qualities of 
it made, some with a hard texture, others with a soft, 
with many variations between these extremes. The me- 
dium hard is what is mostly used. The sheets of felt 
vary in thickness from % inch to 2 inches. The kinds 
mostly preferred by rubbers are one inch thick and 
upward, some using the two inch thickness exclusively. 
The felt is usually cut up into pieces 3x5 inches in width 
and length. There is a considerable difference in the 

23 



THE MODEBN WOOD FINISHER. 



Jt\ 



prices asked for felt. There is probably no article used in 
wood finishing that possesses greater adaptabilities for 

adulteration with 
as little chance oi 
detection by either 
"the feel orthe 
looks." It is al- 
ways in order to 
feel suspicious, if it 
is offered at a price 
below what is asked 
for good qualities in 
the open market. 




Fig. 1— Rubbing Felt. 



It is all important that it should be uniform in texture 
throughout. If it be mixed with a cheaper material, it 
will surely wear unevenly and trouble is sure to come 
of it. In Fig. 1 is given an 
illustration of sheets of felt 
running from thick to thin. 
Scrapers — Wide steel 
scrapers will be occasionally 
required to remove finished 
parts that for some reason 
or other have become blem- 
ished or any finish which 
for any reason has to be re- Fi £- 2— Varnish Pot. 

moved. Old steel blades from planes, socketed into 
wooden handles are frequently used for the purpose, and 

24 




THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 




Fig. 3— Strainer. 



are home-made affairs, but are as good as any that could 

be bought. The shape of the handles may vary to suit 

the taste and fancy of the operator, and as he usually 

makes them himself, he knows much 

better how he wants them than anyone 

could possibly tell him. 

Tin pails, for holding oil stains and 
fillers to brush from are very convenient. 
One of about one-half a gallon capacity 
is the best size to use. It should have a 
handle soldered on the side to hold it by. A wire also 
should be soldered across the top to wipe the brush upon . 
It will be found much more convenient than the sides of 
the pail, and will save these from becoming smeared up 
both inside and outside. 
Varnish pail or pot. — 
For holding varnish 
from which to work. 
The above described tin 
pail will answer fairly 
well, but the one illus- 
trated in Fig. 2 will be 
much better. The cup 
holds about one pint, 
and sets in the pot. A 
lip is made on which to wipe the brush and the surplus 
varnish goes into the pot, thus allowing the brush to al- 
ways be dipped into clean varnish. It is patented and 

25 




Fig. 4— Varnish Brush Keeper. 



TEE MODEBN WOOD FINISHEB. 

for sale by all the first-class painters' supply 
stores. 

Strainers, of various sizes and shapes, made 
from heavy tin with copper wire bottoms, are 
necessary to insure uniformity and freedom from 
specks in water or oil stains. No particular shape 
is required. Consult your own convenience and 
particular needs. Many tin shops have them 
ready made in the shape shown in Fig. 3. 

Brush keepers are also necessary to keep 
brushes in good shape when not in use. Most of 
them are, or may be, home-made affairs. Take a 
keg or tub, lay wires across the top; burn holes 
in the brush handles so the wires will go through 
them and hang them over the tub so that the 
bristles will dip in the liquid up to where the 
binding on the brush commences but on no ac- 
count let the bristles of the brush rest upon the 
bottom of the holder, as it is sure to twirl and 
ruin a brush. There are many other systems 
which may be just as good as the one described. 
One is to put pegs into the sides of the holder, 
boring a corresponding hole into the brush han- 
dle to enable you to hang it upon said pegs. Use 
the same care to insure the clearance of the bot- 
tom of the holder as above indicated, and such a 

Fig. 5— brush keeper will be all right. For varnish 
Picking 
Stick, brushes, some such a keeper as is shown in Fig. 4 

20 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 



will be much better, as it is absolutely necessary that 
varnish brushes should be kept free from dust. The 
brush keeper illustrated here is called the "Paragon." It 
is an ingenious device for keeping 
fine varnish brushes suspended in 
varnish when not in use. It is sim- 
ple, compact, and easy to clean. It 
is made in various sizes, holding 
from four to eight brushes. The 
supply stores handle many other 
kinds, which probably are also very 
good, but this will suffice to illus- 
trate what is needed in a varnish 
brush keeper. 

Picking sticks — A few pickers 
made from second-growth hickory 
wood are also needed. Old buggy 
spokes will answer nicely to make 
them from. They should be about 
eight inches long with various 
curves so as to be able to reach into 
moldings when cleaning up, or to 
remove surplus filler from them. 
Any one can make them to suit his 
Fig. 6-Coach Duster, own "particular needs. They must 
be kept sharp as the keenness of the edge is apt to wear 
out quickly, but this may be readily mended if one has a 
sharp penknife. Fig. 5 shows how picking sticks are made. 

27 




THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

Brushes — As brushes are used ex- 
tensively in nearly all operations con- 
nected with wood finishing, it is very 
proper that considerable space be given 
to their consideration. It is needless to 
repeat that no unanimous conclusion 
has been arrived at as yet as to what 
style of brush is best for any one process 
wherein they are em- 
ployed, and each fin- 
isher can talk by the 
hour in praise of a 
brush for which his 
neighbor will exhaust 
every harsh word in 
his vocabulary in con- 
demnation thereof. 
Dusters — The first 

brush that is needed in finishing is a 

duster, and a most important tool it is, for 

it is indispensable to the finisher for the 

purpose of removing dust and dirt from 

either the raw wood or that may have ac- 
cumulated upon that which has been 

partly finished. The finest white bristle 

coach duster is the only one that will 

give perfect satisfaction. It is illustrated Fig. 8— Metal- 
. «.,>,...., . ., Bound Ova] Var 

in .big. b, and while thev cost about dou- nish Brush. 




Fig. 7- 

Ex. Ex. Stucco 

Wall Brush. 




28 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHEB. 

ble what the ordinary house painters' dusters do, they 
wear so much better, and do the work intended for them 
so much more satisfactorily that they will be found the 
cheapest in the end. They run in sizes from No. 8 to No. 
12. The size mostly used and most convenient is No. 10. 
Water stain brush — It stands to reason that a brush 
intended to be used for this purpose must be able to 
stand a water bath without going to pieces. For this rea- 
son, as a matter ot course, all glue set brushes are inelig- 




Fig. 9— Picking or Rubbing Brushes. 

ible and barred out. As one has to go over large sur- 
faces quickly, so as to prevent laps from showing, a large 
brush is necessary. Some use a three and a half inch, 
while others must have a four-inch flat brush for this 
purpose. When a flat brush is used let it be a good one, 
set in cement, with a fairly heavy filling, but not too 
much so. Some manufacturers make a water-stain brush 
especially for the purpose, but any good extra-extra 
stucco flat wall brush will answer very well when the 

29 



THE MODEBN WOOD FINISHEB. 



specially -made ones are not readily obtainable. The stucco 
brush is illustrated in Fig. 7. The best brush for the pur- 
pose to the notion of many finishers is a metal-bound chis- 
eled varnish brush of good 
workmanship. It is claimed 
for it, and justly so, that the 
oval form is better for the pur- 
pose of rubbing out color than 
that of its flat rival, as it has 
more spring in the center than 
is possessed by the other, 
which enables the workman 
to spread his color or stains 
more evenly or easily. This 
oval varnish brush will be 
found useful for many other 
purposes besides that of water 
staining; but of this more will 
be said further on. They run 
in size from 1-0 to 8-0. (See 
Fig. 8.) 

Filler brushes — These 
brushes are usually flat ones, 
of medium short stock— more 
so than is used for as good a 
grade intended for the house painters' use. They should 
be very full-stocked, more so than for that used in house 
painting. Nearly all brush manufacturers now make a 

30 




Fig. 10— Bear Hair Fitch 
Flowing Brush. 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 



special line of flat brushes intended expressly for filling. 

In this as well as in every other line of brushes, one is 
frequently tempted by the low 
prices made for inferior-stocked 
brushes. It is not the place to ven- 
ture here on false economy, as the 
best are, and will always be found 
to be by far the cheapest, irrespect- 
ive of the first cost per dozen. 

Picking or rubbing brushes— 
These are used exclusively for re- 
moving filler from carved surfaces 
and moldings. There are many va- 
rieties and forms of these upon the 
market, but the one that has a 
curved handle detachable from the 
brush head, which is reversible, has 
justly become the universal favor- 
ite. When the bristles become worn 
on the front (as they will) a screw 
is loosened in the head and it is 
turned end for end, and what used 
to be the end now becomes the 
head, practically making a new 
brush of an old one, giving double 
Fitch Mowing Brush. the wear> and thus effecting quite a 

saving over those that are not reversible. Picking brushes 
are illustrated in Fig. 9. 

31 




Fig. 11— Ox Hair 



THE MODERN WOOD FWISHEB. 



Shellacking brushes— The brush that goes into shel- 
ac must needs be a very well made one, or it will prove 

to be short-lived 
enough indeed. 
Each finisher, of 
course, has his 
own favorite and 
many kinds are 
used for the pur- 
pose. That which 
is mostly used is 
a good, fine bris- 
tle chiseled, met- 
al-bo un d oval 
varnish already 
mentioned under 
the heading of 
water-stain 
brushes. Such a 
brush is shown 
in Fig. 8. This 
brush answers 
well for nearly 
all kinds of shel- 
lacking. An- 
Fig. 12— Bristle Fitch Flowing Brushes, other brush 

which is extensively used is a bristle fitch flowing var- 
nish brush, of which more will be said later. Shellacking 

32 




THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 



is very hard on brushes and the best are none too good. 
With proper care in cleaning and washing them off in 
wood alcohol immediately after having used them and in 
keeping them closed from the air in a good brush keeper 
when not in use, the two varieties men- 
tioned in this paragraph will give good 
satisfaction and wear reasonably well. 
The oval varnish brushes come in sizes 
from 1-0 to 8-0, but those mostly used 
are 4-0, 5 0, and 6-0. The fitch flow- 
ing brushes run from 1 inch in width 
to 2>y 2 inches. There are several 
brushes called fitch-flowing beside the 
bristle one mentioned. They are made 
from either bear hair, ox hair or bad- 
ger hair, and all of these may be, and 
are, used for shellacking on very fine 
work, each kind having scores of 
friends, who would almost fight for 
their favorites. Fig. 10 illustrates the 
bear hair fitch. Fig. 11 illustrates the 
ox hair fitch. 

Varnish brushes — For large sur- 
faces and for surfaces where the finest 
of finish is not required, the oval metal-bound varnish 
brush (Fig. 8.) is a very good tool, and if put into the 
hands of an expert varnisher, he will make it show up a 
finish almost as good as if it had been put on with a bris- 

33 




Fig. 13— 

Badger-Hair 

Fitch 

Flowing Brush. 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 



tie fitch flowing varnish brush. Fig. 12 shows two styles 
of these. They run in sizes from 1 inch to 3^ inches in 
width, some of them being graded to one- 
fourth of an inch in width between sizes, oth- 
ers again only to one-half inch. They are 
known as single, double or triple thick. Both 
these styles of brushes are excellent, and, in 
the hands of the right man, produce the best 
ot work. 

The novice, and for that matter many who 
are not novices, will fare better with these 
than with the oval varnish, as they are very 
apt to skin their work with it, i. e., rub it out 
too thin, making it look skinny. For all the 
better class of work, it is better to use the 
bear hair flowing fitch varnish brush (Fig. 10). 
It is the brush. There is nothing like it, 
unless it be a good camel hair, but as they 
have no lasting qualities their use has become 
nearly obsolete among finishers. 

The bear hair fitches run in sizes from 1 
inch to 3^2 inches in width, and are made in 

single thick square, single thick chiseled, dou- 
Fig". 14 — 
Camel Hair ble thick square, and double thick chiseled. 

a Bmsh. nff The ox hair flo wing fitch, which is con- 
sidered by some for certain purposes, at least, 
as the equal of the bear hair brush, is put up in the same 
size and shape as the other. 

34 




THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

The badger hair flowing fitch is occasionally used 
with good success by some finishers. In form of style and 
in width it runs the same as the bear and ox hair fitches, 
only that it never comes square, but is always, chiseled 
pointed. In working qualities it is very similar to the 
other two. It is illustrated in Fig. 13. 




Fig. 15— Weighted Wax Floor Polishing Brush. 

All the above will do good work in the hands of a 
skillful workman, but it is safe to say that 80 per cent, of 
the finishing done in the United States at least had its 
varnish coats laid on with a bear hair flowing fitch. 
There is no tool used in finishing whereupon there is 
such unanimity of opinion and that receives such a univer- 

35 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER 

sal homage at the hands of finishers as this queen of 
brushes for fine finishing. 

A few assorted sizes of camel hair flat single square 
lacquering brushes running in size from % inch to an 
inch in width as illustrated in Fig. 14, also a few assorted 
camel hair lettering brushes will come handy in applying 
stains to unsightly sappy parts or to touch up certain 
parts of the wood, thus producing shadows in it and 
otherwise mottling it up to improve its looks. 

As considerable wax floor polishing is done in many 
houses a weighted wax polishing floor brush should be 
kept for the purpose* This brush is illustrated in Fig. 15. 



36 



CHAPTER IV. 

MATERIAL USED IN WOOD FINISHING. 

It was thought best to divide the consideration of 
material as it may occur in the various operations of wood 
finishing rather than arrange the list alphabetically, so 
all substances used have been grouped according to their 
usefulness for either Filling, Staining, Rubbing, Varnish- 
ing or Polishing. 

It is not intended to discuss the relative value of any 
of these here. This will be done under the proper head- 
ing and place. So that the mere fact that such and such 
material has been named in this chapter as suitable and 
used for making a filler, for illustration, is no endorse- 
ment of it for such a purpose. It means simply that it 
can be used and is being used for such a purpose. When- 
ever possible to do so the best qualities of the material 
under consideration are named and a reason given why it 
is best to use. 

MATERIAL USED IN MAKING FILLERS. 

Silex— Silex is a rock composed, as its name indi- 
cates, mainly of silica. There are many varieties to be 
found which have the same general chemical composition, 
but whose atomical formation is different. Some are 
made up of atoms with a spherical shape, others again 
with sharp prisms, needle-pointed like. It need hardly 

37 



THE MODEBN WOOD FINISHES. 

be said that the varieties of it with rounded atoms must be 
very inferior to the gritty atomed ones, as the latter when 
once forced into the pores cannot be easily forced out of 
them again. 

Silver White— White Silicate Earths — These sub- 
stances are so much alike that they may well be bracketed 
together. In this as with Silex, there is a great variety 
in the atomical or molecular formation. When about to 
be purchased it is a good plan to put a little of it upon a 
piece of glass, add a little oil to it, triturate it with a pal- 
ette knife and listen for the grit, for it can be heard and 
also felt under the knife. Fineness of grinding, trans- 
parency, clearness and freedom from coloring matter 
should next receive attention to determine quality. This 
can be done at the same time that the examination for 
grit takes place and the piece of glass serves admirably 
for the purpose of determining transparency, etc. 

Corn Starch — There is little if any choice in qualities 
in this article. 

Whiting — (Carbonate of lime) — finely ground. 

Plaster of Paris — (Sulphate of lime) finely ground. 

The above compose the substances mostly used in 
making fillers — light colored ones that add no color to 
the wood. Where it is desired to have a stronger con- 
trast between the pores and the lights, or where the wood 
has been stained, it becomes necessary to color the filler 
and for this purpose pigments are added to it. Trans- 
parent and semi-transparent pigments only should be used 

38 



THE MODEBN WOOD FINISHER. 

for this purpose as otherwise opaque ones would hide all 
the fine details, which make the beauty of a piece of 
wood, and which it is the main object of the finisher to 
preserve and enhance. 

Raw and Burnt Italian Sienna — This is a very trans- 
parent color. To determine quality, place a little of it 
upon a piece of white porcelain or chinaware, if you have 
not a slab or palette-board of the same add a little oil and 
stir with a palette knife. If it has good depth of tone, is 
clear-looking and free from muddiness and when spread 
out thin over the white surface of the palette, shows up a 
rich subdued red brown (in the burnt) then it is good. 
Notice also its transparency after it is spread out, as this 
is most essential. The above applies to the burnt. 

Raw and Burnt Umber (Turkey) — Although known 
as Turkish Umber, there are many fine qualities of um- 
bers imported that do not come from that country. This 
is only a semi-transparent color. Use the same tests for 
it as have been indicated for Raw and Burnt Sienna, only 
that instead of a red tone, it should have a rich, deep 
brown in the burnt and a greenish yellow brown in the raw. 

Vandyke Brown — Or Cassel earth, as it is known in 
some parts, is a bitumous earth. It comes mainly from 
Germany although there are mines of it in Belgium and 
Holland. It is transparent and is sometimes very dirty. 
It should be well levigated or washed free of foreign mat- 
ter, finely ground and free from specks under the knife 
when mixed with oil, 

39 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

Drop or Ivory Black— This black is a semi-transpar- 
ent color; the words Drop or Ivory are interchangeable, 
and the only difference between the two is in the label on 
the cans. It is an animal black, the better qualities being 
made from the hardest bones, such as teeth, etc. Give it 
a test for purity of tone, transparency and fine grinding 
with the palette knife over a white palette board or 
dish. 

Rose Pink — Is a factory-made color on a whiting 
base. The quality consists in the richness of its color, 
the permanency of the same, its transparency and fineness 
of grinding. Apply same tests for it as for the other col- 
ors. It is difficult to test this color for durability. Many 
are made from rose aniline or some other aniline product, 
and these are very short-lived. Buy of some one having 
made a reputation on the good quality of this color. 

As all the above colors are used in the making of oil 
stains, it would be a mere repetition to state over again 
what has been said of each, and all that will be done here- 
after will be merely to name them over, referring the 
reader to the above when occasion requires it. 

It is frequently seen that now that woods are colored 
fancifully without any regard of following or improving 
nature, and while the fashion lasts to have a table finished 
in vermilion, scarlet, Prussian blue, all kinds of shades 
of greens, yellows — in fact the whole range of colors in 
the spectrum, the finisher is to be able to supply the de- 
mand at libitum. 

40 



THE MODEBN WOOD FINISHEB. 

tertiary are used, to save making a catalogue of pigments 
out of this chapter, it was thought best to give a few di- 
rections instead that will enable the finisher to select the 
proper pigments to color his fillers. Where there is a 
choice between what pigments to use for the purpose, al- 
ways pick upon that one having the most transparency, 
clearness of tone and richness. 

Raw and Boiled L,inseed Oil — These are too well 
known to require a description. As it is not the object 
of this work to give more than the very slightest sketch 
of any of the materials used in wood finishing, the reader 
isreferred to the many excellent treatises published where 
pigments, oils, japans, varnishes, etc., are treated to the 
full extent. 

Turpentine — Is a volatile oil obtained from the dis- 
tillation of the crude turpentine of the yellow pine, with 
common rosin as a residue. It is frequently adulterated 
with deodorized benzine. Turpentine is known also as 
Spirits of Turpentine. 

Japan — Both turpentine and benzine made. 

Naptha or Benzine — Used as a substitute for turpen- 
tine in thinning fillers. 

Rubbing Oil — For rubbing with pumice stone. 

This comprises about all material used in fillers or 
-filling. 

MATERIAL USED IN MAKING STAINS 

For convenience the same division of stains into 
As the whole range of colors, primary, secondary and 
41 



THE MODEBN WOOD FIKISHEB. 

groups has been followed here as in the chapter devoted 

to their consideration to-wit: 

Oil Stains. 

Water Stains— Made from coloring matter or dyes 

other than anilines. 

Water Stains — Made from anilines. 

Spirit Stains — Made from anilines mainly. 

Oil Stains — Raw and Burnt Sienna, Raw and Burnt 
Umber, Drop or Ivory Black, Vandyke Brown, Rose 
Pink, Dutch Pink, Prussian Blue, and the whole range 
of transparent colors in oil. It is better to buy the colors 
already ground. 

Water Stains — Made from coloring matter or dyes 
other than anilines. A partial list of the materials that 
are used occasionally in the manufacture of stains is here 
given; also some of the chemicals required to develop 
them or mordant them. 

Catechu, Epsom Salt, Anatto, Quercitron, Turmeric, 
Brazilwood, Orchil, Madder, Dragon's Blood, Alkanet 
Root, Red Sanders, Fustic, Camwood, Permanganate of 
Potash, Verdigris, Gamboge, Nutgalls, Logwood, Steel 
filings, Bichromate of Potash, Copperas, Vinegar, Aqua 
Ammonia, Tin, Muriate of Tin, Sulphuric Acid, Nitric 
Acid, Acetate of Copperas, Chloride of Tin, Tinct. of Mur- 
iate of Iron, Muriatic Acid, Sal Ammoniac and many other 
substances which would only bewilder one to name over. 
Few of these named above are likely to be made use of as 
will be explained in the chapter treating on stains. 

42 



CHAPTER V. 

SANDPAPERING AND PREPARING FOR THE FILLING. 

Properly speaking, this operation belongs to the car- 
penters, if the work to be finished is the interior finish of 
a house, or to the cabinet makers if it be in a furniture 
manufactory. All woodwork is supposed to come sand- 
papered and ready for finishing out of their hands and it 
may seem out of place that the operation should receive 
any extended notice in a work on wood finishing. 

This is only partly true, however. In a way the 
woodwork has been sandpapered it is true, but how? 
There's the rub. Carpenters and cabinet makers are up 
to all sorts of ingenious ways to save time and labor. In- 
stead of earning their bread by the sweat of their brows, 
as the Scriptural injunction has it, they have invented a 
machine to do the work for them. They put a piece of 
wood in the machine at one end and it comes out sand- 
papered at the other— a penny-in-the-slot machine sort of 
way. It is not quite so bad as that some of the machines 
are surface-working ones, but their work is no better. 

These machines do the work from a cylinder, cov- 
ered with hard felt upon which roll sandpaper has been 
attached. It is made to bear hard against the wood it is 
working upon and the sandpaper roll grinds it smooth. 
While it does its work fairly well for all the closer grained 

43 



THE MOBEBN WOOD FINISHEB. 

woods it will be found that in the more open-grained or 
coarser-grained ones the fibres have been loosened at one 
end and pressed into the pores at its other side and that 
it is still fast to the wood at that end. 

Wood in such a condition is not in a fit condition to 
receive the filler and the chances are that if it were then 
filled the filling would give way and work out, with the 
consequence that the work would be marred and ruined 
by the appearance of a lot of fine lines running length- 
ways or with the grain. This cracking is entirely differ- 
ent from that caused by the misapplication of varnish, as 
these always appear crossways of the work, thus being 
easily distinguishable from the other. 

It is therefore necessary for the finisher to run all 
over this machine sanding with No. 1 sandpaper and to 
sandpaper the wood crossways. This will loosen the 
fibres and they will then fall off or can be readily dusted 
off. 

The operation of sandpapering is so simple and so 
universally understood that it would be questioning the 
intelligence of the readers of this manual to waste any 
time in explaining the modus opera?idi and with a word of 
caution the subject will be dropped. This caution is 
printed in italics as it embodies a fault that many are 
guilty of. 

Never bear so hard upon the edges that these will be 
grounded off. 

After this re-sandpapering (if it may be so called) 
44 



THE MODEBN WOOD FINISHES. 

has been properly performed, the next operation will be 
to "dust off" the wood. For this purpose nothing better 
can be found than a No. 10 duster (Fig. 6) and going 
over the job carefully. To make doubly sure, go over it 
again and again, and do not give it up until you can 
swear that there is not another particle of dirt left on it. 



45 



CHAPTER VI. 



STAINING AND STAINS. 



In the preceeding chapter it was said that the opera- 
tion of sandpapering the wood was to prepare it for the 
filler and so it is, if it is to be finished in its natural state, 
and that operation can take place immediately, if the 
wood is to so remain; but if it is not to remain in its natu- 
ral state and it has been decided to color it either by em- 
phasizing its own color or giving it another in imitation 
of some other wood or to give it a fancy color in imitation 
of no sort of wood growing either on earth or out of it, 
then it is time to stop a minute for reflection. 

Staining can be divided into two sections, which are 
very different one from the other. Each one of these sec- 
tions has minor subdivisions but for a consideration of 
the general principles that govern stains the division of 
stains into those known as Oil stains, whose composition 
is mainly pigments reduced to the proper consistency for 
application with linseed oil and turpentine or naptha, and 
Water stains, which may be composed of anything, but 
into whose composition oil entereth not. 

Oil stains would certainly be the ideal stains, and 
even with their drawbacks they have much to recommend 
them. The one feature which belongs to them exclus- 
ively is that they do not raise the grain of the wood. But 

46 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

their faults are such that even so great a desideratum as that 
mentioned above is more than counterbalanced by defects 
that have practically made oil staining a thing of the past 
in nearly all the largest furniture factories in the country, 
although it is admitted that there may be a few notable 
exceptions. It will be well to notice these defects so that 
the reader may form an intelligent opinion and be ready 
to make a selection understanding why he does it. 

Oil stains do not penetrate very deeply into the 
wood, consequently those portions of woodwork which 
are exposed to abrasion or wear or scratches, will soon 
show theuncolored wood, the stain having been removed, 
and such spots serve as a constant reminder that the 
whole affair is a sham. It must be borne in mind that it 
is a fact that no touching or an^ subsequent amount of 
refinishing, short of completely taking off and refinishing 
will ever mend it. Even the complete refinishing will 
hardly make it much better, unless it be redressed below 
the filling and staining, as it would not be possible to use 
water stains over the oiled work, and if it is to be refin- 
ished in oil stain again after the first experience with it 
there would be little gained by having it refinished at all. 

Another grave objection — that aside from Vandyke 
brown, which is a bituminous earth and for that reason 
very transparent, the rest of the pigments used in the 
make-up of stains are at best but semi-transparent and 
even these semi-transparent pigments will become more 
and more opaque with time, thus hiding even from the 

47 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

beginning or at least marring that delicacy of fine lines, 
pores and bold lights and shadows which appear so pretty 
and make up the charms of nearly all woods, but make 
up the characteristics of quarter-sawed woods. 

The only place where oil stains can be of any value 
is upon white pine or similar textured woods. It is well 
known that it is very difficult to stain pine in water colors 
and do a good job. Unless the operator can take the 
whole panel or strip down at one draw of the brush the 
water stain will not show up even. The least pressure of 
the brush on one part more than another will make a spot 
there. If one cannot take a whole plank or panel down 
at one sweep and has to give it another sweep of the 
brush, it can well be imagined what it will look like 
where the jointure of the two lines come together. There 
being no such dangers with Oil stains, as it is possible to 
brush them out evenly and without too much hurry with 
absolutely no fears of showing laps and an assurance of 
having a fair uniformity of looks on the job, seem to in- 
dicate their use for pine staining at least. 

Oil stains are usually made from pigments that have 
been named over, but may also be made from any of the 
anilines soluble in oil. It may be well to explain here 
that the name Oil does not necessarily indicate linseed oil 
but the volatile oils as well, such as turpentine and 
benzine or naptha. There is no object, however, 
in using them, for anilines are fleeting enough and 
should only be used in water colors as they pene- 

48 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

trate much deeper, and having been properly treated 
and mordanted will last a great deal longer than they do 
in oil. Another drawback is that if the stain is applied 
to the more open-grained or very porous woods before the 
filling is done the oil stain has partly closed them and the 
filler cannot enter and form a good clinch that would pre- 
vent it from becoming loose. If, on the other hand, the 
filling is done first and the staining be done on top of it 
with the oil stain, there is only a very slight veneer of 
stain as there is no penetration and for all the good it 
does it is no better than a coat of colored varnish would 
have been; in fact it is not so good. 

Oil stains are readily and very easily made and this 
will recommend them to many. For very soft woods that 
have little or no character of their own to lose and every- 
thing to gain by masquerading under false colors, and 
where such woods cannot be dipped into a bath of water 
stains the oil stains are the best to use. As it has been 
said before, they will go on over such soft woods more 
evenly than it would be possible to apply water stains 
with a brush. 

Water stains are very penetrating and when properly 
made will bring out the grain of the wood most beauti- 
fully and clearly instead of dulling it or clouding it as oil 
stains made from pigments will surely do. 

On account of their deep penetration an abrasion that 
would show the bare wood upon a piece of furniture or 
woodwork which had been previously stained with oil 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER 

stains, would not show at all had the stain used been 
water stain. 

The one great fault in the eyes of some people, pos- 
sessed by water stains is that they raise the grain in the 
wood. Yet, this fault readily becomes a virtue in that this 
very same grain raising greatly helps in bringing out 
fully many little details in the wood so stained that en- 
hances its beauty after having been properly finished. 

This grain raising involves additional work, it is very 
true, for it is necessary to sandpaper down this raised 
grain to obtain a perfect level. This additional work con- 
sists mainly in rubbing, but this expense of elbow grease 
will be more than amply repaid when after the last coat 
of varnish has been rubbed and polished the work done 
on the wood stands out clear and bright as a jewel — a 
thing of beauty and joy to the heart of the enamored-of- 
his-art-finisher. 

Water stains may be made of any coloring matter or 
coloring substances that are soluble in water. Of course 
many need a mordant to fix them. Various formulas will 
be given of how to make them. They can be bought 
ready made; many of them will hardly pay to make in a 
limited way, but as it is sometimes very hard to procure 
exactly what is wanted ready made, it is well to know 
how to prepare them. The proper mordants will be given 
beside the general ones that may be used in connection, 
or rather applied over, the majority of the water stain 
formulas given. 

50 



THE MODEIIN WOOD FINISHER. 

In the by-gone days of the not so very long ago, the 
secrets of making these stains were very carefully guarded 
and kept as heirlooms, descending from father to son, or 
were bought outright and considered as capital in the 
business. While a few were good and even today de- 
serve a place at least in the memory of the finisher, the 
great majority of these recipes for stains were very cum- 
bersome, uselessly loaded down with unnecessary ingre- 
dients, and very inconvenient to make and some of them 
nearly impracticable. Most of them have disap- 
peared and become obsolete since the advent of aniline 
colors. 

Great discoveries and improvements in the man- 
ufacture of aniline colors have been made within the 
last few years and are being made even now by chem- 
ists in search of something new in the nasty looking 
and vile-smelling stuff which is known under the name 
of coal tar. These late discoveries have given us Aliz- 
arin, Purpurine and many other colors among the many- 
hued anilines, and these products are now almost dis- 
placing all others in the making of water or oil and spirit 
stains. 

The wood finisher has been relieved of a lot of drudg- 
ery and is not kept on the anxious seat dreading the op- 
erations necessary in olden times to prepare the stains re- 
quired in his business, nor does he have to burn midnight 
oil in watching a slow fire boiling a 30-hour concoction, 
and he may well be thankful that he has been relieved of 

51 



THE MODEBX WOOD FIXlSHEIt. 

many of the labors and anxieties which were formerly 
necessary to produce stains. 

Formulas for making water stains will be given first 
of all — a few of the old stand-bys and those more modern 
ones that are used with good success. 

As Water Stains made from anilines or alizarine, etc., 
are very readily and easily made, and are about all made 
alike, all that will be necessary will be to give general di- 
rections how to proceed and these will be applicable to all. 

In giving a formula for staining wood of a certain 
color, say mohogany, for example, it must always be 
borne in mind that some woods being much more absorb- 
ent than others they will, of course, show a much deeper 
tone of color than those woods that are of a close-grained, 
non- absorbent, water-repellent nature, and the stain may 
color one kind of wood a very dark mahogany but would 
hardly color another of the latter class to a light cherry 
tone. When this is well understood there need be no 
trouble about it. Some woods require two and even three 
applications of the stain to obtain the effect wanted. 

It will not pay to become discouraged if at the start 
things go wrong or get mixed up a little. Experience is 
to be bought only by perseverance in this as well as in 
every other process of wood finishing, or for that matter 
any other business or enterprise. Where the stain con- 
tains a large portion of alkaline matter, brushes will be 
quickly destroyed by the corrosive action of the lye upon 
the bristles. It is therefore better to make a dauber of 

52 



THE MODEBN WOOD FINISHER 

cloth which is easily replaced by another when eaten up, 
and apply the stains with this instead of a brush. It 
seems superfluous to warn persons to be careful of their 
clothing and hands or any part of their anatomy. A hint 
to the wise is sufficient. 

Besides the liquid stains there are mechanical meth- 
ods of darkening or coloring some woods which have 
much to recommend them. However, they are only ap- 
plicable to furniture, and it would be impossible to use 
them in house finishing. The antique finish of oak, for 
instance, can readily and more closely be imitated by the 
method described below than by colored stains. 

All are aware that most woods darken and change 
their colors simply by age. So much so that it would be 
very hard to recognize them by the colors, at least. In 
the main this change is caused by the action of ammonia 
present in the air in very minute quantities, it is true, 
but still present and slowly accomplishing its work of 
combining with the tannic acid contained in most woods 
and darkening them. 

It stands to reason that if an article of wood can be 
placed where ammonical fumes can reach it, this combi- 
nation of ammonia and tannin will take place in a much 
shorter space of time than it would or could under ordin- 
ary conditions. So the process is simply an acceleration 
of a natural one. 

To concentrate the action of the ammonia, and to 
keep it from being wasted, as nearly an air-tight room 

53 



THE MODEBN WOOD FINISHES. 

should be had as it is possible to secure — a bicycle japan- 
ning oven would be just the thing. The articles to be 
darkened could be put inside and subjected to the fumes 
of strong ammonia for eight or ten hours. 

If the articles are small a large dry goods box can be 
used — the articles being placed in it, and the ammonia 
placed in a dish, after which the cover can be securely 
nailed. It may not be absolutely, air-tight, but will be 
sufficiently so for this purpose. 

While antique oak has been mentioned, this process 
is applicable to all woods such as mahogany, or any 
other which develope a rich shade of color by ageing. 
The process simply hurries up nature. 

It might as well be said here that by the coloring of 
fillers really a partial staining or change is effected in 
the natural color of the wood and it is well to bear this in 
mind in judging as to the amount and depth of stain that 
should go on. 

While in giving formulas the name of the wood most 
nearly of the color of the stain is given it is arbitrary in 
that, for instance, any of the mahogany stains will make 
a cherry stain if applied thinner and a cherry siain would 
make a mahogany stain if applied repeatedly. 

Stains can also be combined when they have the 
same general composition, and many variations can be 
made in the tone of the tints. As the fancy colored stains 
are so much easier made from the aniline dyes than from 
other coloring material, only a few formulas are given of 

54 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

the old fashioned dyes. Formulas given under the head- 
ing of "Oak" are mainly intended for very light woods 
or pine to imitate the color of oak. As that particular 
wood has so many shades and tones varying from each 
other, there is room for much fancy. Oak itself is seldom 
stained, unless it be to imitate age as in the "antique" or 
to brighten it as in "Golden Oak." 

It will be well to have a few planed boards about for 
the purpose of testing all the stains made. If too strong 
they can be reduced. Repeating the application will us- 
ually give the deeper tones and with some of the formulas 
it is impossible to avoid giving several applications to ob- 
tain the tone as dark as required. 



55 



CHAPTER VII. 

A COLLECTION OF FORMULAS FOR MAKING STAINS. 
WATER STAINS. 



No. 1 — Mahogany. 

Fustic chips 8 ounces 

Madder root 1 pound 

Water 2 gallons 

Boil for two or three hours, strain and apply boiling 
hot. 

No. 2 — Mahogany. 

Dissolve orchil in water and make it of such a 
strength as will suit your needs; add a trifle of eosine. — 
Apply cold. 

No. 3 — Mahogany. 

Make a decoction of logwood chips by boiling them 
in a closely-covered vessel in twice their bulk of water, for 
two hours; strain; add a small quantity of chloride of tin. 
This will give it redness. Be your own judge when to 
stop. Apply two coats. 

No. 4— Walnut. 

Dissolve catechu, broken up in small pieces in about 
twice its bulk of water. Add bichromate of potash to 
darken it. 

For some shades of walnut add a trifle of eosine to 
the above. 

56 



THE MODERN WOOD FIXISIIEE. 

No. 5— "Walnut. 

Permanganate of potash 1 ounce 

Epsom salt 1 ounce 

Water 1 quart 

Dissolve, strain, and apply, repeating till darkened 
to suit. 

No. 6— Walnut. 

Nutgalls (crushed) 3 ounces 

Concentrated lye 4 ounces 

Vandyke brown (dry) 8 ounces 

Boil, strain and apply hot. 

No. 7— Walnut. 

Vandyke brown 2 pounds 

Potash or lye 1 pound 

Water 12 pounds 

Boil till the bulk is reduced to less than half. When 
cold apply to the wood with a cloth or pad. 

No. 8— Walnut. 

Mordant the surface with a solution of bichromate of 
potash, then apply an infusion of logwood or fustic. 

No. 9— Walnut. 

Vandyke brown 1 pound 

Concentrated lye 2 ounces 

Water 1 gallon 

Boil until reduced one- half. Apply warm. 
57 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

No. lO-Walnvit. 

Vandye brown 4 ounces 

Burnt Turkey umber 3 ounces 

Aqua ammonia 1 pound 

Mix and apply after straining. It may be left to 
stand for a few days to kill the pungent smell. 

No. 11 — Rose-wood. 

Any of the mahogany stains will make a rosewood 
stain if repeatedly applied. If stained with these to a dark 
mahogany tone the work is gone over lightly with an 
ebony stain. Load a camel hair pencil with ebony stain 
and run over the surface in that hap-hazard, straggling 
way peculiar to the grain of rosewood. 

No. 12— Cherry. 

Spanish Annotto 1 pound 

Concentrated lye 1 ounce 

Boil for half an hour. If not deep enough to suit, 
boil more to concentrate it. Gamboge added to it will 
darken it. 

No. 13-Cherry. 

Any of the mahogany stains reduced will make 
cherry stains. 

No. 14-OaK. 

Asphaltum gum % pound 

Turpentine 1 pint 

Dissolve, strain and brush over. 

58 



THE MODEBN WOOD FINISHES. 

No. 15— OaK, DarK. 
Burnt Turkey umber, l /> pound, aqua ammonia suf- 
ficient to mix into a stiff paste. Thin with water until it 
is of the shade wanted. Strain and apply. 

No. 16— Eb»ny. 

Extract of logwood 3 pounds 

Concentrated lye....... 1 pound 

Water 7 pounds 

Dissolve by boiling, strain and apply either hot or 
cold. When dry go over the work with a strong solution 
of vinegar and iron. 

No. 17— Ebony. 

Sulphate of iron 1 pound 

Water 1 gallon 

Dissolve and wash over the wood repeatedly; when 
dry apply a strong decoction of logwood. 

No. 18— Ebony. 

Sulphate of iron % pound 

Chinese blue 2 ounces 

Nutgalls 3 ounces 

Extract of logwood 2 pounds 

Vinegar 1 gallon 

Carbonate of iron % pound 

Boil over a slow fire for two or three hours; strain 
and apply either hot or cold. 

59 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 
FANCY COLORED WATER STAINS. 



No. 19 — Crimson. 

Brazilwood pulverized 1 pound 

Water 3 pounds 

Cochineal ^ ounce 

Boil the Brazilwood with the water for half an hour. 

Stain and add the cochineal. Boil gently for another half 

hour, let it cool and it is fit for use. 

No. 20— Violet. 
Make a solution of orchil and soluble indigo blue of 
such strength as required. Strain and apply cold. 

No. 21— Blue. 

Indigo blue 3 ounces 

Sulphuric acid 1 pound 

Put the two together in a porcelain dish and let the 
indigo dissolve, which will take some twenty-four hours 
or more. Shake it up occasionally to hasten the process. 
Add a pint of boiling water and strain, applying to the 
wood while hot. Before the indigo stain has completely 
dried, wash over the surface with a solution made of 3 
ounces of cream of tartar in one quart of w T ater. 

The above cover the field of stains made from mate- 
rial other than anilines. It would be very easy to pre- 
pare page after page of formulas but the above covers all 
that is essential or worth having, at least among those 

60 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

that it is possible to make without more trouble than they 
are worth. 

On account of the great cost of alcohol very few 
stains are made from it and spirit stains are almost un- 
known now. 

However, a few are here given — by mixing, various 
shades can be made from them. 

SPIRIT STAINS. 



No. 22— Yellow. 

Turmeric powder 1 ounce 

Alcohol 1 pint 

Digest four days, shaking the mixture occasionally, 
and strain for use. Brush over the wood two or more 
times until the depth of coloring wanted is obtained. 

No. 23— Yellow Red. 

By adding an alcoholic solution to the above (No. 22) 
of dragon's blood any degree of redness can be obtained 
up to an orange. 

No. 24-Mahog'any. 

Dragon's blood 1*4 ounces 

Carbonate of soda *4 ounce 

Alcohol 1 pint 

Digest a few days to make it dissolve, filter and after 
applying the following wash, brush it over. Take dilute 
nitric acid and wash the wood with it before applying the 
stain. 

61 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHEB. 

No. 25— Ebony. 

Dissolve extract of logwood in wood alcohol to the 
strength desired, strain and apply. Develop the color by 
going over the work with tincture of muriate of iron. 

No. 25— To Brig'Hten Stains. 

The following recipe will not give color to the wood, 
but will brighten up water stains: 

Nitric acid 1 ounce 

Muriatic acid % ounce 

Grain tin % ounce 

Rain water 2 ounces 

Mix in a bottle a few days before using and wash 
over the stains for the purpose indicated. 

ANILINE STAINS. 

These are so easily made, are usually so very clear 
and free of any cloudiness that they may be said to have 
supplanted all others. 

Anilines (and under that name is included all the 
coal tar products such as alizarine, eosine, etc.) are made 
soluble in either water, oil or alcohol. 

They will dissolve, any of them, much better in warm 
than in cold liquid and about all the direction that there 
is to give is to have your water hot or your turpentine hot 
if it be soluble in oil, or your alcohol hot if it be soluble 
in that. A single recipe will suffice for the whole list and 
for the purpose of illustration the following which is so 
much used in mahogany imitation is given. 

62 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 
No. 27 — Mahogany 

Bismark brown 1 ounce 

Water 3 quarts 

L,et the water be boiling hot and dissolve. I,et it cool 
and it will be fit for use. 

For the other stains instead of Bismark brown sub- 
stitute any of the others and you have it. 

In making stains from anilines that are soluble in 
oil, turpentine, is of course, more desirable as a solvent 
and vehicle than linseed oil as that remains in the pores 
ol the wood where it is not wanted and linseed oil stains 
are not as penetrating as turpentine made ones. But tur- 
pentine dissolves the dyes slower than linseed oil, so that 
a mixture of the two is better as a solvent. The liquids 
must be kept warm and frequently shaken or the process 
of dissolution will be very slow and at the best several 
days will pass by before it is complete. 

While it may be objected that aniline stains are not 
very stable, yet by careful usage they are fairly so. Some 
have the coloring matter much more stable than others 
and they are being improved constantly in that respect. 
Those derived from alizarin are fairly permanent. Aliza- 
rin, it is well known, is the coloring principle contained in 
madder root. That now produced from coal tar is abso- 
lutely the same, as it is chemically, atomically and in 
so far as it has been noticed, in its ability to withstand ex- 
posure to the sun's rays. 

Many of the anilines proper are helped very much by 
63 



THE 3I0DEBX WOOD FINISHER. 

the addition of vinegar, which prevents them from this 
fading tendency. 

The common names of most aniline and alizarin col- 
ors are rather mixed np and a correct nomenclature 
for the same is one of the good things to come as yet. 
Each manufacturer has fancy names for certain colors 
or mixtures that puzzle and cause one frequently to pur- 
chase an article that is not wanted. 

It is better to buy by naming the color wanted as, 
aniline blue, aniline black, yellow, green, violet or what- 
ever it may be, substituting alizarin in place of aniline 
when purchasing the latter quality. 

Bismark brown forms an exception, as it is known 
under that name in all English speaking countries. 



64 



CHAPTER VIII. 

FILLING AND FILLERS. 

Filling is the all-important operation to the wood fin- 
isher, which cannot be slighted, and which, if it has been 
imperfectly done, is sure to cause confusion at some later 
period. 

If one takes into consideration the fact that good fill- 
ing means the perfect leveling up of the surface of the 
wood upon which is to be produced that mirror-like uni- 
formity of finish which is so beautiful to look upon, it is 
easily conceivable that it is only with the greatest care 
that the foundation for it can be properly laid. 

The woodwork having been properly sandpapered 
and dusted, as related in a former chapter, it is now ready 
to be filled. There is no operation in connection with 
wood finishing that has undergone so complete a change 
within the last quarter of a century as that has. The lev- 
eling up of the wood surface by the ancient process of 
shellac varnish and oil with an unlimited use of elbow- 
grease and patience, which so justly struck terror to the 
hearts of the operators, has been relegated among the 
things that "have been." 

The next progressive step was the mixing up of corn 
starch and othei similarly transparent substances with oil, 
turpentine and japan and of using these for a filler. It 
was a great step forward, and the system has now many 

65 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

advocates who do very good finishing upon this filling; but 
corn starch or any other substance of a vegetable nature 
used for the purpose of filling has many drawbacks, one of 
the greatest being that they undergo chemical changes and 
decay and these changes are detrimental to the durability 
of the finish that is placed upon them. Another fault that 
it possesses, in common with all substances used in fill- 
ing, mineral as well as vegetable, is that being composed 
of spherical atoms, they do not adhere very firmly to the 
pores and are easily dislodged; nor do they penetrate as 
well as those substances which have a wedge like or nee- 
dle-like prismatic formation of atoms. 

With the great impetus given to wood finishing some 
twenty 3^ears ago, when hardwoods began to be employed 
more largely in the finishing of interior woodwork for 
dwellings, stores and other structures instead of the soft 
woods and paint, experimenting began to take place and 
search was made for some inert mineral substance of per- 
fect transparency that would prove superior to corn 
starch, whiting, etc. The searchers were successful, and 
there was another great step then made (in that it made 
filling which had been an ornamental but risky operation) 
as safe as could be desired. 

There is now no question as to what is best to be 
used in the making of fillers. It is silex, or rather that 
form of it whose atomical formation permits it to be 
ground into the finest kind of needle-shaped fragments. 
All kinds of silex stones are not fitted alike for the pur- 

66 



THE MOVE EN WOOD FINISHER. 

pose of filling. Those forms of it that grind up into 
spherical fragments are no better for filling than that 
much whiting, although harder. There are other miner- 
als whose atomical formation is prismatic and when per- 
fectly transparent they are as good or better even, than 
silex for some certain kinds of work, if they are of a 
lighter specific weight, as it will be noted further on. 

As formulas will be given at the end of this chapter 
for making fillers, and as the manufacturers of that arti- 
cle have cut the prices so low that it will hardly pay one 
to make it for himself, it will be taken for granted that 
the filler is ready at hand, prepared to be applied. 

Fillers should dry, or rather set in a reasonably short 
time, between fifteen and thirty minutes, and for that rea- 
son should not contain any more linseed oil than is abso- 
lutely necessary for a binder. The linseed oil used in the 
grinding of the paste should be refined raw linseed oil of 
good quality, and where it is used at all in the thinning 
of the paste should also be of the same character. This is 
for the reason that linseed oil darkens with age, and while 
this will make no difference in woods that are darkened 
or stained, it would have a tendency to mar the very light 
woods by its very slight opaqueness. There must needs 
be some very light-colored japan to dry the linseed oil 
and also as an additional binder. Turpentine or naphtha 
should be the principal liquid used in thinning the paste. 
Where there is no hurry, and where the odor of naphtha 
is objectionable, of course turpentine should be employed. 

67 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

If, however, cost of material and time is an object as it is 
in nine cases out of ten, in furniture factories, at least, 
then naphtha will be used in place of the turpentine. 
There is no difference whatever in the results whether 
one is employed or the other. The only difference between 
them is that turpentine does not evaporate as rapidly as 
naphtha, and consequently the rubbing-off cannot com- 
mence so soon. The filler can be applied with any good 
flat brush, but such a tool as has been described under 
the heading of "Brushes" is best for the purpose. 

The operation of applying the filler is a very easy 
one, and as the saying is "any one can do it." The only 
one thing required being that there be no part of the work 
slighted, or in painters' parlance— that there be no "hol- 
idays." As soon as the color of the applied filler begins 
to change from a wet looking to a dull, whitish, dryish 
appearance with a flat look to it, then it is ready for the 
"Rub off." It is the almost universal habit to use excel- 
sior or shavings for that purpose and that material answers 
fairly well; but for first-class work, flax or hemp tow will 
be found the best, as a very careless man or boy might 
rub some of the filler out with the excelsior and this is 
next to impossible with the tow; it would have to be wil- 
fully done. The danger of rubbing filler out of the pores 
comes from the fact that operators seldom wait until the 
filler has properly set before commencing their work, be- 
ing afraid it will set too hard for them before they get 
through with their job, so they commence the work when 

08 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

the filler is only partially set and at that stage it is possi- 
ble to rub it out with excelsior. If, as has already been 
remarked, one will only wait a sufficient time for a proper 
setting, there need be no fears of the results. A person 
should easily be able to judge of the amount of filling 
that should be gone over ahead of the rubbing and guage 
it so it can be accomplished before it sets too hard. As it 
is impossible to clean out all the filler from the mould- 
ings, carvings, etc., the carved wool pickers can be here 
used in connection with soft rags. The picking brush 
(Fig. 9) is very useful here and will do the work quickly, 
except in corners where the picking sticks should be used. 
In some of the furniture manufactories it is the prac- 
tice to fill some parts, at least, and in some cases the 
whole of certain articles, by the process known as "dip- 
ping." There is a tank into which the filler, thinned to 
the proper consistency is poured, and the articles to be 
filled are dipped into this. This is only practicable with 
tables, chairs, etc., and of course is out of the question in 
house finishing. As it is probable that persons interested 
in furniture making may read these pages, it was thought 
proper to mention this method. High grade furniture is 
never dipped, and many articles of cheap furniture cannot 
be so treated. As in the struggle for cheap products of 
our present days, it is well to know how even a cent can 
be saved on an article, and unfortunately many a finisher 
may think that the saving of cash is not restricted to the 
dipping tank but follows him all the way through his 

69 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

work to the polishing off. For this dipping tank business 
a very finely ground silex is absolutely necessary, other- 
wise it would precipitate too readily and would not stay 
in suspension in the tank after having been thinned. 
Other forms of silica of a lighter specific gravity can be 
used here to a good advantage, and a good "silver white" 
being lighter than silex, will answer well for it. 

All material that could possibly be used in making 
fillers will precipitate. It is only a question of time with 
them. There are tanks made now with agitators that are 
run by power. These agitators occupy a small space at 
the bottom of the tank and over them is a grate that pre- 
vents the furniture from coming in contact with them. 
Where such are in use it does not matter so much about 
the specific gravity of a filler, and a heavy filler can be 
used. Where the tank is a plain one the light weight 
filler is the best, as it will not be necessary to stop so of- 
ten to stir it up into a uniform mass with a paddle. In 
other words, it saves time. 

Here it may be repeated that competition has 
brought the prices of fillers down so low that it will hard- 
ly pay one to make them for himself. While it is not very 
difficult to prepare them, few have the proper facilities 
for their manipulation. Very few, even among the largest 
of the furniture manufacturers, find it sufficiently ad- 
vantageous to manufacture their own fillers, but prefer 
to buy them already prepared. Some of these use large 
quantities and buy them by the car load. They prefer to 

70 



THE MODEBN WOOD FINISHER. 

buy them ready made for two reasons, and both are good 
ones. The first is that they cannot make them themselves 
any cheaper; the second is that they can rest assured of a 
uniformly made article that will always work in the same 
way, and besides the saving of the machinery necessary 
to make it and of skilled mechanics to run it for whom 
they would not have employment all the time. 

All manufacturers of fillers make a line of colored fil- 
lers, as well as the light ones, to suit the various kinds of 
stains that are used in coloring light woods. As it is very 
inconvenient for many furniture factories or for wood fin- 
ishers to keep so many shades of ready made filler on 
hand to suit their work, most of them buy the light filler 
and color this to suit themselves by the addition of dry 
colors, or better, finely ground colors in oil. Those mostly 
used are Vandyke brown, burnt and raw sienna, burnt 
and raw umber, rose pink, drop black, rose lake, etc., all 
of which have been reviewed in a previous chapter. 
FORMULAS FOR MAKING FILLERS. 

No. 29 -Light Filler. 

No. 1 Silex any quantity 

Bleached linseed oil (raw) one-third 

Light japan one-third 

Turpentine one- third 

Mix the liquids together and add sufficient quantity 
to the silex to make a stiff paste of it; then put it through 
a mill and grind it or at least treat it under a chaser for 
proper trituration. 

71 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

No. 30- All Other Fillers. 

For silex substitute any other substance that you 
wish, and proceed to make a paste of it employing the 
same process as indicated in formula No. 29. If you want 
a colored filler, add any of the colors mentioned above; 
only if they have already been finely ground in oil they 
can be added to the light filler without regrinding. 



72 



. CHAPTER IX. 

SHELLACKING. 

With hardwoods shellacking is the next process that 
comes after filling the wood. The main object of doing 
this work is to close the pores thoroughly, sealing them 
up hermetically as it were and to prevent the sinking in 
of the coats of varnish used in finishing. 

The first thing in order will be to ascertain as to 
whether the filler is thoroughly dry. It is impossible to 
feel certain of this by the touch since after it has been 
rubbed off there is none remaining upon the surface and 
to the touch it is apparently dry. The filler, however, has 
penetrated and has been rubbed in deeply at least in some 
of the pores, and being there excluded from the immedi- 
ate action of the oxygen in the air the process of the har- 
dening of the oil (which is due to its oxidation) is neces- 
sarily very much slower than it would be if the air had 
free access to it. As long as oil is not thoroughly dry it 
will never do to shellac over it. 

It must be borne in mind that unless there be a com- 
plete sealing up of the surface to the subsequent penetra- 
tion of the finishing coat or coats of varnish, it will be 
impossible to obtain a good finish. The finishing coats of 
varnish are mentioned here, but the shellacking or seal- 
ing-up coats should also be unable to penetrate the filling. 
It can easily be perceived what mischief this penetration 

73 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

would cause. Wherever the shellac coat would sink in 
there would be a hole and the mirror-like surface would 
be broken up and the finishing would remain full of blem- 
ishes to the end. 

Shellac dries very quickly, and it is this one quality 
that makes it so serviceable for the purpose of sealing up 
pores. It sets in a few minutes and dries so as to be 
sandpapered in six to eight hours. This very rapidity of 
drying is what prevents it from soaking in and softening 
the oil in the filler over which it is applied. It is therefore 
obvious that after this coat of shellac has dried hard, the 
chance of a partly-dry filler beneath this impervious coat- 
ing ever drying hard is very small indeed. Now, if this 
partly-dry filling is covered with a bone-hard coating as 
that of the shellacking will be in twenty-four hours, there 
is bound to happen this — that the filler coat being much 
more elastic (on account of its non-drying) than the hard- 
ened shellac coat, it will expand more than that will, with 
the consequence that there will be a parting of the shel- 
lacking in order to follow the expansion of the filler with 
the result of fine longitudinal lines, and as these do not 
show up immediately and the finishing coats of varnish 
have been applied and the job completely finished, this 
longitudinal cracking does not make its appearance until 
too late to be remedied and the chances are that the var- 
nish manufacturer will come in for a good share of exe- 
cration for furnishing poor material and all this because 
"the filter was not dry." It is therefore very important 

74 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

that a perfect assurance be had that the filler be dry be- 
fore proceeding with the shellacking, and the way to be 
sure of this drying is to give it plenty of time, aud a lit- 
tle over, to make double sure of this. This impervious 
coating, or sealing up of the pores, can be produced with 
other material than shellac, but the process itself has 
come to be called and known as such, irrespective of any 
other material being used for that purpose. 

Varnish will accomplish the same results, and some 
of the liquid fillers would, but none will do it as effective- 
ly as an alcoholic solution of shellac does it, and this is 
probably why the operation has retained the name of 
shellacking. On cheap work it is even accomplished by 
the use of glue size, and this serves the purpose very 
well, (for a while). The water-repellant filler will not al- 
low it in its company and rejects it altogether, leaving it 
dry upon the surface. As it is perfectly clear and transpar- 
ent, if it has been made from good glue, it leaves no 
marks of its own upon the work, and varnish brushed 
over it will show up fine, bringing out to perfection every- 
thing there is in the wood beneath. Over certain stains, 
where alcohol enters largely in their composition, theglne 
size is sometimes used to better advantage than shellac, 
and in water stains, where lye and potash are not used, 
glue size serves as a developer and, in a sense, glue size 
is necessary to bring out the best coloring in the woods. 

At one time many persons used "oil shellac" under 
the wrong impression that the oil in its composition made 

75 



THE MODEBN WOOD F1NISREB. 

it more elastic and consequently more serviceable than 
the spirit shellac varnishes, but that was a mistaken no- 
tion and plainly a case of misplaced confidence in a name 
and it is not the only case by long odds of misapplied 
"English" in the wrong naming of material. There is 
little or no oil used in the make-up of the so-called "oil 
shellac," and for that matter very little or no shellac, 
the composition of most of these being mainly rosin and 
naphtha or turpentine. The manufacturers probably ease 
their consciences by putting in five grains ot shellac to 
the gallon and they might then be on a par with the 
manufacturer of some grades .of "white lead" which bears 
upon its label a guarantee of forfeiture of $100 for any 
white lead in the package that is not pure. Said white 
lead on analysis being shown to contain 0.50 or less than 
one percent of its composition. If oil was a leading in- 
gredient in the composition of oil shellac, it would make 
it a slow drier and thus defeat its employment for the op- 
eration called shellacking since it would sink into the 
pores of the wood. In other words, its slowness of drying 
would soften the filler and permit it to sink into it. It is 
certainly not so good as a coat of good, quick-drying var- 
nish would be for such work. 

Pure grain alcohol shellac, either the orange or the 
white, according to whether the wood is a dark one, a 
dark stained one, or a light-colored one, is the only arti 
cle that ought to be used on first-class work, and the only 
one that can be conscientiously recommended for the pur- 

76 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

pose. The orange shellac is stronger than the white, and 
should be used when possible, for the reason that one 
good coat of it is usually sufficient to make an impervious 
coating over the filler, while it may be necessary to give 
two coats of the white to make sure of having accom- 
plished the same purpose. However, the white shellac is 
easier to apply than the orange. As it sets less rapidly, 
it does not show laps as readily as the orange. Wherever 
the latter is used, one should be very careful in applying 
it to make all joinings only upon wet edges so as to pre- 
vent laps and doubling up. Nor should one attempt to 
brush it when partially set as it is sure to double up and 
roughen. Where white shellac is used, one is always sure 
of doing good work, for it is so transparent that even 
doubling up hardly ever shows through, and two coats 
will always be sufficient to stop suction. 

Upon all close-grained woods, where "filling" is not 
resorted to previous to shellacking, especially pine, etc., 
the white shellac is about the only one that can be used 
successfully, except, of course, where an expert has the 
putting of it on, he can use the orange for the double pur- 
pose of coloring the pine at the same operation; but of this 
more will be said under the heading of "soft woods." 

Shellac which has been dissolved in wood alcohol is 
being largely used because of its greater cheapness, but 
the smell— whew! Well, as to that, if one can stand it, 
wood alcohol shellac does fairly well. It is a trifle longer 
in drying than grain alcohol shellac, and for this reason 

77 



THE MODEBN WOOD FINISHER. 

a little longer time should elapse between coats. Regard- 
less of the fact that the evaporation is slower than the 
other, wood alcohol shellac will not bear working or 
brushing to the same extent that grain alcohol does, and 
for that reason has to be applied quicker. 

For the styles and kinds of brushes best suited for 
shellacking the reader is referred to Chapter III. 

FORMULAS FOR SHELLAC VARNISH. 
No. 31 — Orange SKellac. 

Orange shellac 4^ pounds 

Grain or wood alcohol 1 gallon 

Digest and occasionally shake the mixture. In 
cold weather place in a warm place until dissolved. At 
all times of year warming the solvent will hasten the pro- 
cess of solution. 

No. 32— White SKellac. 

White shellac 5% pounds 

Grain or wood alcohol 1 gallon 

Use same directions for dissolving as are given in 
recipe No. 31. 

The above recipes are given not so much as a law 
concerning the amount in weight of shellac to be used, 
but as a guide, some using more and some using less than 
the amount herein given. It may be bought ready made 
for less money than most people could buy the material 
to make it with. This is somewhat mysterious and hard 
to explain aside from the fact that varnish makers buy in 
very large quantities and can get the raw material cheap- 

78 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER 

er. When shellac is offered at less than the wholesale 
market price of raw material, look out for it. Although a 
salesman may be willing to swear to its absolute purity 
upon a stack of bibles, look out for it. 

Manufacturers make many grades of pure grain or 
wood alcohol shellac, and while there is room for varia- 
tion of prices in a grade containing a lesser number of 

| pounds of shellac to the gallon than another containing 
more, the difference in prices will not always be accounted 
for by such a difference of weight alone. Highly flavored 
names, such as cologne spirits, are certainly very fine in 
their proper place, which should be outside of shellac 
varnish. A furniture manufacturer once remarked to the 
writer that he preferred to make his own shellac as then 
he was sure of having what he wanted, although it cost 
him more money than he could buy it for. 

The above was not written with any intention of cast- 
ing any reflection upon the honesty of manufacturers of 
shellac varnishes. Most of them make as good and pure 
an article as it is possible for one to make for himself, but 
for the purpose of putting finishers on their guard, so 
that when the baited hook of an unreasonably low price 
is made for a so called pure article they may not bite and 
swallow it. 

Before turning the job into the hands of thevarnisher 

I it should be carefully sandpapered with No. sandpaper. 

t Shellacking sandpapers as fine as silk. The only caution 
to give in respect to this operation is to be careful of the 

79 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

edges of the work and do not bear down so hard that you 
cut through the shellacking. Should the sandpaper be 
new, rubbing two pieces together for a few moments will 
make it work better without danger of scratching. If too 
stiff to bend readily into moulding, etc., remove one or 
two layers of the paper from the back. 






80 



CHAPTER X. 

VARNISHING AND VARNISHES. 

This operation is one which brings out the beauty of 
the wood to its highest degree and which will bring 
either credit or disgrace to the finisher, according as to 
whether the perfect levelling of the filling and of the shel- 
lacking processes have been well or badly performed. 

As it has been said and explained in the former chap- 
ter the suction must have been thoroughly stopped by 
those two previous operations so as to stop the penetra- 
tion of the varnish, so then even a slow drying one will 
effectually be prevented from entering or sinking into the 
pores. 

If the work is being done upon the interior wood- 
work of a house, before commencing the varnishing, see 
to it that it be thoroughly cleaned and dusted — not only 
with a dusting brush, which after all will only scatter it 
to settle elsewhere, perhaps upon a freshly varnished sur- 
face, in an adjoining room and make that look specky, 
and if the doors are closed, to fall back into the room to 
rise again when the floor is walked upon and settle upon 
the fresh varnish. The only true way, after having 
dusted it carefully and allowed the dust to settle, is to 
take a damp cloth (not a wet one) then carefully go over 
the floor with it to take up all the dust that has settled 
upon it, then for the woodwork run over it with a damp- 

81 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

ened chamois skin, being careful to carefully go over all 
mouldings, carvings and corners. Occasionally wash out 
the chamois skin, rinse it as dry as possible and proceed 
till the whole woodwork has been gone over. 

It is well to note that while the floor of the room 
must be moist, it should never be so moist as to be wet, 
as this might cause considerable trouble and mischief. 
The room to be varnished should be kept at about 70° 
Fahr., as one cannot obtain the best of results when the 
temperature runs much lower than that. Artificial heat 
must be resorted to to obtain the proper temperature, if 
the finishing is being done in cold weather. The room 
having been cleaned and the proper conditions of temper- 
ature having been obtained the varnishing is ready to be 
commenced. 

The observer may think, when he is watching a var- 
nisher at work, that it is one of the simplest and easiest 
of operations and that any one can do it, but the ease and 
simplicity are only in the looks. In reality there are but 
few first-class varnishers. Men are frequently able to 
achieve success with a much more difficult work than var- 
nishing looks to be, but they make a total failure of this 
when they undertake it. 

While the operation looks as simple and easy as the 
proverbial "falling off of a log" it is easy only to the one 
who "knows how." 

There can be no rules given nor laid down, from the 
mere reading of which one can ever make a good var 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHEB. 

nisher. Practice and experience will in time make a 
good varnisher of a man, if he has it in him. Some say 
that good varnishers are born, not made. That is going 
a little too far, for it is a dull man indeed who cannot ac- 
quire the art, if he will only try hard enough. But along- 
side the first-class varnishers there is a large class that 
can be numbered with the good varnishers, and as all do 
not turn out to be the former, they can all certainly be 
numbered among the latter. 

Any good painter who has varnished painted work 
and has not had it sag and run away from him ought to 
be able to do a fair job of varnishing over wood finishing, 
if he will follow carefully the rules given further on. The 
finishing may be done with a single coat of varnish con- 
sisting of flowing finishing varnish, or with two or more 
coats of the same left on with a full luster or it may con- 
sist of several coats of rubbing varnish (the method of 
rubbing varnish is explained in Chapter XI.) and a fin- 
ishing coat of flowing finishing varnish flowed on and left 
as it is or the same rubbed and polished to either a dead 
finish, a semi or egg-shell gloss or to a high lustre, ac- 
cording to the wish of the finisher. 

As all these operations do not properly belong to the 
subject of varnishing the reader is again referred to sub- 
sequent chapters where all these processes are explained 
under their proper headings. 

As it was stated before, the finishing can be done 
with one coat of varnish over the shellacking if the work 

83 



THE MODEBN WOOD FIMSHEB. 

only calls for that or it consists of cheap furniture, and it 
will look very well, indeed, if a good flowing varnish is 
used, it being taken for granted always that the filling 
and shellacking have been properly done. Unlike painted 
work, varnish can be applied to natural wood, and it re- 
quires a much heavier coat ot it to cover it perfectly and 
allow it to flow level. 

It is a matter of convenience as to what tools should 
be used in putting on flowing varnish, and that which a 
man has been accustomed to is no doubt the best for him 
to use but as this advice is written professedly to teach 
the art to men who probably have formed no particular 
attachment nor become habituated or wedded to any par- 
ticular style of brush, the bear hair fitch nowing(Fig. 10) 
is strongly recommended, although Fig. 11, Fig. 12 and 
Fig. 13 represent very good finishing brushes. 

For ordinary surfaces that are not much cut up by 
mouldings or carved work, and which consist mainly ol 
wide panels and stiles, a three-inch bear fitch is the best 
size to use; for smaller surfaces, smaller brushes are nec- 
essary. As they run in width from one inch up, with gra- 
dation of y 2 an inch between sizes, it will be very easy to 
procure the right size wanted for any particular work. 

In applying varnish always commence at the panels, 
being careful not to touch the stiling or mouldings next 
to them any more than is absolutely necessary, as it will 
set, if it be a quick varnish, before the panels can be 
properly laid off. 

84 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

Put the varnish on with a full brush, rubbing it out 
crossways. Finish by laying it off up and down with the 
grain. If the varnish has been flowed on, as it should be 
and it be finished or laid off crosswise, it will surely sag 
along the brush marks; but if it has been laid off with the 
grain it will not be nearly as apt to do so and a greater 
quantity of varnish can be put on, which will give the job 
a much better finish. This flowing is what usually puz- 
zles the house paintermost, for he is almost sure to"skin" 
his varnish as a hardwood finisher terms the scanty ap- 
plication of varnish. The house painter being used to 
skinning his varnish over painted or grained work does 
not readily fall into the right handling of the flowing coat 
from fears of using two much varnish. While speaking 
to painters the advice is to guard against too scanty a use 
of varnish, yet it will be well to advise against a "too 
plentiful" use of that article, as that is to be avoided as 
well as the former practice. Practice alone can give one 
the habit of judging exactly what amount is theright one 
to put on. Too much varnish will make the finish crack. 
It is readily conceivable that such a coating will com- 
mence to dry upon its exterior first, as that first comes in- 
to contact with the air; that having become dry effectu- 
ally seals the undried portion underneath from contact 
with the atmosphere so that the oil cannot oxidize and 
harden or it there be little linseed oil in the varnish, it 
prevents the further evaporation and hardening of the 
varnish gum. Be the composition whatever it may be 

85 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

the results are the same and that is "cracking of the var- 
nish coat." As the dry portion of the coat cannot con- 
form itself to the elasticity of the interior it cracks and 
this too heavy application of varnish is responsible for 
much of the cracking of that article. 

Always bear in mind that every coat of varnish 
should be thoroughly dried and hardened before another 
is applied on top of it, as this is also another cause of var- 
nish cracking upon the same principle as has been ex- 
plained in the paragraph above. 

Quick-drying varnishes, when properly made, are 
very desirable, but should be made from good hard gums, 
having sufficient hardness to rub well without crumbling 
to pieces, as varnishes will that are made where the pro- 
duct of our Southern yellow pine forest predominates as 
the principal ingredient in their make up. 

If a man will and must have a cheap varnish to fin- 
ish the hardwood work of a house or apiece of furniture, 
his wishes must, of course, be gratified, as he pays the 
fiddlers, but such an economy comes very "high priced" 
in the end. The cost of taking it off and of refinishing re- 
mains with him the rest of his days as an object lesson. 

Many finishers knowing that quick-drying varnishes 
are unfit to use for certain exposures, at least, will use 
them simply because they are advantageous to them in 
time-saving. When these cheap varnishes are used when 
there is no necessity for doing so, as when they are not 
specified, there is no excuse whatever for it. This greed 

86 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

for saving a few cents has caused architects to take the 
matter into their own hands and to specify the kinds of 
varnishes which in their practice and experience they 
have found worthy and reliable. 

Dishonest finishers are partially the cause of this, but 
honest ones (and they are by far in the majority) have 
much to gain from it, in that it relieves their responsibil- 
ity and the same is saddled onto the architect. 

Dishonest men will always bear watching, and as 
honest ones can lose nothing by it, they should encourage 
the practice rather than discountenance it. They have 
everything to gain in having a dishonest contractor de- 
tected in the "crime" (for it is nothing less) of substitut- 
ing a poor grade of varnish for one that has been speci- 
fied. This practice is too frequent and it should be 
stopped. It is not receiving the scorn and abhorence that 
it should. Even high-toned supply stores wink at it, 
afraid to say anything when some of these wormy custo- 
mers of theirs openly come to their places to buy some 
cheap hard oil and have their labeled cans of high grade 
varnish filled up with the cheap stuff. Sometimes these 
customers make no bones of it and tell them right out, 
usually laying the blame upon having had to take the 
work too cheap and of course that they must come out 
ahead somehow. If what has been said in this instance 
is true, it is in order to stop the nefarous practice. It is 
not just to the honest bidder who has to bid against men 
who are bound to come out "ahead" nor is it just to the 

87 



THE MODEBN WOOD FIMSHEB. 

varnish manufacturer whose reputation is made to suffer 
unjustly by this "substitution racket." 

VARNISHES. 

It is not intended here to give the reader instructions 
for the manufacture of varnishes, for to do so requires 
appliances far beyond the reach and possibilities of the 
average wood finisher or manufacturer of furniture, for 
that matter. The processes are very intricate and would 
be out of place in a work of this kind. But while there is 
no necessity to-day, for the finisher to make his own var- 
nishes it is well that he should know a little something 
about varnishes, as no workman can ever know too much 
about the material he continually uses. This elementary 
knowledge will enable him to make the right choice of a 
varnish for the right place. 

Varnishes are made from resinous and gum-resinous 
substances. Some are soluble in alcohol, some in turpen- 
tine or other vegetable oils and some again in the fixed 
oils such as linseed oil and poppy seed oil, etc. These 
liquids are called the vehicle and according as they enter 
into a varnish make these quick-drying by their quickly 
evaporating away as when composed of alcohol or the 
volatile oils, or slow-drying if linseed oil is the 
solvent. A mixture of these vehicles will conse- 
quently be quick or slow in the proportion that either 
the volatile oils or the linseed oil predominates. There 
is another reason for a varnish being slow or quick 
besides that of the composition of its solvents or vehicle, 

88 



THE MODERN WOOD FINIShER. 

and it is that of the resins and gum resins that the var- 
nish may be made of. Some of these, as will be seen, be- 
ing very much quicker in becoming hard than others. 

Of the gums that are soluble in alcohol, shellac is the 
only one that will be considered, for it is the only one 
that is worth the while, mastic, gum benzoin etc., which 
were formerly used as additions in connection with Lac 
in making spirit varnishes, having been totally discarded 
to-day as adding nothing whatever to the value of the 
varnish and frequently of reducing its value for French 
Polishing. Gum mastic and sandarac are sometimes used 
for special purposes, such as polishing violins, but even 
there their use is mostly empirical and it is very question- 
able if the same results could and would not be obtained 
by the use of shellac spirit varnish alone unencumbered 
by any of these. 

Of the other resins used in varnish making, and 
which are soluble in oil or turpentine, the main one and 
that which stands at the head of the list for either dur- 
ability or brilliancy, is the resin known falsely under the 
name of gum copal. This article comes in many qualities 
some of it being very clear and transparent, other speci- 
mens ranging from light to very dark. All these are val- 
uable for some kind of varnish making, the lighter being 
selected for fine clear, transparent, light varnishes and 
the rest according to their coloring for secondary and in- 
ferior grades. This resin-gum is head and shoulders 
above all others on the list for manufacturing a lasting 



THE MODEBN WOOD FINISHEB. 

varnish and such grades of varnish as wearing body are 
made from it in the main. It solidifies very slowly after 
having been once liquefied and made into a varnish, and 
that is its worst fault. It seems that there is no perfection 
to be had in nature without a corresponding draw- 
back. 

To correct this slowness of drying is one of the chief 
aims of the varnish makers, and their best efforts are di- 
rected to that end. 

But few varnishes are being made where copal is the 
sole constituent. Additions are made of other gum resins 
which serve both as a cheapener and as a corrective to 
make the varnish dry more speedily than it would other- 
wise. Of course this compounding adds nothing to the 
wear or lustre of the varnish, but for certain purposes it 
is an improvement. For interior work, which is not ex- 
posed to the action of the elements, it certainly is. The 
other gum-resin substances employed in making the var- 
nishes used by the wood finishers are gum animi (so 
called by the number of insects that get caught into it 
during its excudation), gum kauri, which is probably 
more used than any other gum unless it be gum Rosin. 

The latter, of course, should never be employed in 
varnish making, and probably would not if people were 
only willing to pay a fair price for an article properly 
made. But as long as people want to buy gold dollars for 
ninety cents, a $20 suit of clothes for $14 99, a $3.50 var- 
nish for $1.98 and everything else in the same way, they 

90 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

must expect something else besides hard gums in their 
varnish. 

Nearly all varnish manufacturers try to make at 
least one good varnish which they recommend as an out- 
side varnish under various names. These are usually 
slow dryers and will not bear rubbing for eight or ten 
days and sometimes even for two weeks, according to the 
barometrical conditions of the atmosphere and the height 
of the Fahrenheit. They also make one which is intended 
for inside finishing, and which will rub in three to six 
days according to weather. Many of these quicker var- 
nishes are very good, rubbing down well and are fairly 
durable as well as lustrous. 

For interior work it is not necessary that a varnish 
should be composed of as hard and slow gum-resins as for 
outside use, but even for this purpose gum rosin should 
be excused. 

For very cheap finishes over pine and where the use 
of high grade interior rubbing and flowing varnishes 
would be considered as too expensive, the so-called or- 
dinary "hard oil" finishes can be used with fairly good 
results, although there are cheap varnishes that could be 
named that give equally good results and that cost less. 
For pine finishes No. 1 coach and Extra No. 1 coach 
varnishes also give fairly good results, when well 
made. 

The so-called copal furniture varnishes do not contain 
an atom of gum copal, and are so cheap that one may 

91 



THE MODEBN WOOD FINISHEB. 

well doubt if anything else but rosin was used in their 
manufacture. 

As a description of the various gums, with their full 
history, can be obtained by consulting any encyclopedia 
and a rehearsal of it would swell this manual far beyond 
the limits intended for it, the reader is referred to these 
for fuller information concerning them. 



92 



CHAPTER XL 

RUBBING. 

This operation follows varnishing and may be done 
after the first coat of varnish has become thoroughly 
dried and has been put on heavy enough to fill up all the 
depressions etc., to a perfect level. This, however is sel- 
dom possible, notwithstanding all the care that may have 
been taken in the preceding operations of filling and shel- 
lacking. It is only possible upon very close grained 
woods, such as birch, sycamore, maple etc. Even in these 
it is better not to depend too much upon a single coat of 
varnish, as a very small speck will cause an elevation 
that cuts through in the rubbing and the appearance will 
be spoiled. As to the coarse grained woods it is absolute- 
ly impossible to rub on one coat of varnish and two or 
more are necessary to give the wood such a surface as 
will safely rub to a perfect level without risking to cut 
through to the bare wood during the rubbing pro- 
cess. 

Seemingly rubbing is a very easy affair, and in a cer- 
tain way it is, yet in this as in varnishing there is more in 
the' 'art" than appears in the looks, a good rubber doing 
his work much quicker and better than one who has not 
acquired the knack. 

Below are given a few rules that will enable an inex- 
perienced person to do a fair job of rubbing: 

93 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

1. Avoid rubbing crosswise of the grain as this 
gives the work a scratchy appearance. 

2. Do not let your strokes bear heavily at the be- 
ginnings nor ends; if you do you will rub the wood to an 
unsightly bare spot on the edges. 

3. Always rub with the grain of the wood, up and 
down, lightening the stroke at either end. 

4. Never attempt to rub until the varnish be thor- 
oughly dry, for if such a course has been pursued, it will 
be sure to sweat through and it will have to be rubbed 
over again when dry. Bear in mind that there is nothing 
gained by hurrying but a "loss of time" as our Irish 
friend would say it. 

5. If the varnish resists the impression of your fin- 
ger nail it is safe to rub but not before it has attained that 
degree of dryness. 

If the above few rules are followed, there need be no 
fears of making a failure of rubbing down a well var- 
nished surface to a level. 

Rubbing is most usually done with ground pumice 
stone of which there are several degrees of fineness: FF, 
F, 0, 0^,00 being the sizes mostly used. FF, and F, are 
the finest, 00 being the coarsest. The finer grades of 
pumice do not cut as fast as the coarser but they are safer 
to use in the hands of beginners or for careless old hands 
too, as there is less risk of scratching incurred than in 
using the coarser grades. 

Rubbing requires a great deal of elbow grease for 
94 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

some kinds of wood. For instance such woods as cypress. 
Before rubbing be attempted over that wood three or four 
and in some cases as many as five coats of varnish should 
be applied and even then sometimes it will be insufficient. 
This is due to the composition of the fibres of that wood. 
These are so tenacious of the circular form of their make- 
up that it can never be planed so perfectly level but that 
they manage to come up some way or other. This is the 
only one exception, however, and most other woods will 
only need the application of two, and at most three coats 
of rubbing varnish before the operation of rubbing can 
commence safely. 

The other one thing necessary for rubbing, besides 
powdered pumices tone, is a pad with which to rub it over 
the wood. 

This pad is simply a chunk cut out of a sheet of 'rub- 
bing felt." Usually it is 3x5 inches and may be cut out 
from any size of thickness of the felt as will best suit the 
fancy of the rubber. This or even 4x5 inches are the pro- 
per sizes for rubbing flat surfaces such as panels or stiles. 
For mouldings it is better to prepare some pieces of wood 
to conform to the curve of the mouldings, and to split 
some of the pieces of felt if thin felting is not at hand and 
to glue these pieces of felting to the pieces of prepared 
wood. The curves will then be as easily rubbed as the 
flat surfaces. 

Rubbing can either be done with water or with rub- 
bing oil. This is a petroleum product resembling and 

95 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

smelling like machine oil and which is much cheaper than 
linseed oil, which can also be used, but as it is more ex- 
pensive and no better and on account of being more gum- 
my it is even less desirable than the "rubbing oil." 

The most common practice is to dip the piece of felt 
into the rubbing oil and then into the ground pumice 
stone, lifting a sufficient quantity of that article to the 
surface about to be rubbed. Some again apply oil directly 
to the surface, sprinkle the pumice stone upon it and pro- 
ceed to rub with the felt. This is all right when the sur- 
face to be rubbed can be placed in a horizontal position, 
but on perpendicular work such as upon the interior 
woodwork of a building, this method becomes impossible 
and the first described process is the best and really the 
only possible one. 

One should never delay the cleaning off of the oil 
and pumice as soon as possible after doing the rubbing, 
so as to prevent the rubbing oil from soaking into the var- 
nish and softening it. 

One can readily tell whether a surface has been suffi- 
ciently rubbed, by wiping off a stroke with the palm of 
the hand. The pitted appearance should have disappeared 
and a perfectly level surface should show up. 

Cleaning up is a very particular piece of work and 
requires care and attention more than skill. Conscien- 
tiousness in doing the work is the one quality which is 
most desirable in the operator, as it is very easy to slight 
the cleaning in some of the mouldings, corners or quids 



THE MODEBJSr WOOD F1NISHEB. 

of the carvings, in "out ot sight" places. Should the job 
be polished after the rubbing as is most usually the case, 
the particles of pumice stone that have not been cleaned 
off are pretty sure to find their way to the surface to 
scratch and mar the job. 

It is usual to take damp soft wood saw dust to clean 
off with. This dampening is to keep it from scratching. 
The mouldings should be carefully gone over with the 
pickers, same as described under the heading of 'fillers.'' 
After the woodwork has been carefully sprinkled over 
with the sawdust, clean off with soft cotton waste, or bet- 
ter still with soft cotton wadding. Split the wadding in 
two and use the soft side to wipe with. It is particularly 
well adapted to getting into the mouldings with a pointed 
stick. Its soft inside surface after splitting will absorb all 
remaining oil and specks of pumice and leave the wood 
in condition for either a dead finish or a polish finish. 



97 



CHAPTER XII. 

POLISHING. 

In the previous operation of rubbing the work of 
wood finishing has practically been brought to a close in 
so far as the system of finishing woods in varnish is con- 
cerned as practiced in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred 
as against the finish called French polish which will be 
reviewed later on. This really ends the method of finish- 
ing after rubbing. It is true it can be further developed, 
but it is practically complete in that, let it be either good 
or bad, no remedy can be now applied, for if bad it is too 
late. 

The wood can be left to a dead polish and for the in- 
terior finish of wood work this is as far as it is necessary 
to go. This dead level, mirror- like finish is very fine and 
is much preferable for most purposes than the same sur- 
face polished, but as a polished surface is insisted upon 
by many persons, and architects specify accordingly, and 
for furniture articles it is indispensable as well as desir- 
able, this dead leveled varnished surface has to be ' 'pol- 
ished" to bring it to a lustrous condition. 

There are two processes of bringing this about — the 
quick and the slow. 

The quick is as follows: Take a handful of raw cot- 
ton that has been dipped in a mixture of half sweet oil 
and half alcohol— well refined cotton seed or peanut oil 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

will do if sweet oil (the genuine) is not readily procurable, 
and rub the job with a rotary motion. 

In a short time the lustre will appear and one that is 
skilled in it can produce very fine results; yet there is a 
better way though more lengthy and that is called the 
slow process. 

This is the method: After the work has been brought 
to a dead level by rubbing put on an extra coat of flow- 
ing finishing varnish; rub this down again with FF. 
pumice stone, clean up carefully; then take a lump of 
pumice stone and rub thoroughly, or with a chamois skin 
rub ground rotten stone over the work with a circular 
motion. The rotten stone should dry on the surface. 
When dry, with the palm of the hand wipe it off the 
work, keeping the hand going in a rotary motion. The 
hand must be wiped every time it has passed over the 
work and for the purpose one should have a piece of cloth 
in the other hand. An old piece of silk cloth or handker- 
chief answers very well for the purpose of rubbing the rot- 
ten stone, should it be handier than the chamois skin. 

This completes all there is "in wood finishing" and 
while in one sense this finish is inferior to what is known 
as French polishing, it is so in so small a degree that it is 
very difficult to distinguish one from the other and even 
experts can be deceived in it. 

The claim made for French polishing that it is super- 
ior on account of wearing qualities, etc., is not well sus- 
tained. It is only under certain conditions that it is the 

L.ofC. 
99 



THE MODERN WOOD FIXISHER. 

case, but under others the rubbed polished varnished sur- 
face will outwear the French polish so that it is as broad 
as it is long. When it is taken into consideration that 
the cost of finishing even in the costliest manner em- 
ployed in varnish rubbed polishing is considerably less 
than half what it would be in French polishing, it is very 
easy to see why the former has practically displaced the 
latter. That the people at large are satisfied with it is 
the best answer to give to those who still advocate the 
latter. 



100 






CHAPTER XIII. 

FRENCH POLISHING. 

This finish can be put on in two different ways. 
First by taking the wood from the cabinet makers in its 
raw condition, if it may be so termed and the operation 
commenced at once or the operation can be delayed and 
commenced only after the surface has been filled and 
cleaned off. 

To cut a long rigmarole short, the process of French 
polishing can be stated in a few words to consist of: The 
gradual filling up of the surface of a piece ofiuood by an al- 
coholic solution of shellac until the same is brought to a high 
polish by rubbing. 

While the statement of what the process really is, oc- 
cupies but a little space to tell it and at a first glance it 
would seem to be much easier than the processes which 
have been described in preceeding chapters, in reality 
when all combined are but "child's" play along side of 
this simple looking affair. 

As some finishers do not believe in the wood being 
filled previous to applying the French polish, and think 
that the whole process should consist of the same sub- 
stance as the finish it will be well to notice the operation 
from the raw wood. 

Of course the same conditions exist here as have been 
stated at length elsewhere. That is, the pores of the wood 

101 



THE MODEBN WOOD FINISHEB. 

are just as open and have to be closed. If the wood is off 
in color it has to be stained in the same way as has been 
recounted in the chapter on staining and stain, and that 
previous to commencing the French polishing. 

To commence with, let us consider what appliances 
are necessary for the purpose of its application, as brushes 
are perfectly useless for the purpose. 

It has been said that all there was in French polishing 
was the filling and bringing up of the surface to a bril- 
liant polish by the application of shellac. (Under this 
name the alcoholic solution of shellac known as shellac 
varnish is understood, and that article will be understood 
when the word shellac is used in this chapter). 

Shellac applied to unfilled wood will sink into the 
pores and disappear, and if applied with a brush will re- 
main upon the surface of the fibres as well as sink in the 
pores so that a succession of ridges would be the result. 
As this would mean the death of the finish and the utter 
impossibility of a perfectly level surface other methods 
must be resorted to to obtain this result. 

Before explaining the mechanical processes of "how 
the work is done" it will be well to consider a few prin- 
ciples that when well understood will greatly aid a novice 
in comprehending the "why and wherefore' ' of the opera- 
tions described. 

It must be understood that spirit varnishes become 
milky and opaque in damp atmospheres and in cold ones 
also, so it will be necessary to artificially raise it if it 

102 



THE MODJEBN WOOD FINISHED. 




should happen to be that the thermometer should regis- 
ter less than 65° to 70°. The latter is about the minimum 

at which it is safe to 
proceed. 

As the thinner the film 
of varnish used the bet- 
ter are the results, it is 
necessary to apply the 
shellac in very limited 
quantities, and the same 
can only be done by rub- 
bing it on and in. 

For this purpose it is 
Fig. 16. , 

necessary to make a pad. 

That there are different ideas as to how these should be 
made is to be expected and it will not make so much dif- 
ference in the end if the general principles of French 
polishing that will be laid down are well understood. 

To make a rubbing pad suitable for flat surfaces tear 
strips of woolen cloth from 1% to 2 inches wide, roll it 
up to such a size as will 
best suit the work on 
hand and tie it in the 
center in the shape repre- 
sented by Fig. 16 which 
represents the bottom Fig. 17. 

view of the pad, and by Fig. 17, which represents a side 
view of it. A single thickness of soft linen or cotton cloth 

103 




THE MODERN WOOD FIXISHER. 

from which the sizing has been washed off or which has 
been in use and washed several times until it is soft, 
should be put upon the face of the rubber and the edges 
simply drawn over the top and used as a handle when 
grasped by the hand. 

This form of pad as has been previously stated is very 
useful for flat surfaces, but for them only, as it is impossi- 
ble to reach into the curves of mouldings with it. 

Another form of pad which adapts itself to shapes 
that are curved but which is also largely used on flat sur- 
faces, is very easily and simply made by taking the very 
finest of cotton batting, making it up into a ball and cov- 
ering it over with one thickness of either soft linen or soft 
cotton rags, as will be noted further on. Grasp the cover- 
ing in the hand and it will serve as a handle to propel the 
pad ovei the w T ork, but do not tie it. 

Be careful to avoid the creasing of the rag covering 
of your pads, as this will greatly hurt their efficiency and 
the freedom of their working, besides giving the coating 
of shellac a smeary appearance. Some workmen prefer 
to take wadding and with a sharp knife carefully remove 
the glazed sizing on each side of it; they then take the 
soft interior for making their pads. The main object is to 
get a perfectly soft cotton, and the highest grade of cot- 
ton batting is good enough for most purposes. 

Small pad rubbers are usually held by the thumb and 
the tips of the fingers but the larger ones require the palm 
of the hand to be used in propelling them over the work. 

104 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

The requisite now is to charge the pad with shellac. 
For doing this open up the covering of the pad and drop 
the shellac on the wadding from a bottle through the cork 
covering of which a goose quill has been placed. This 
will enable the operator to have full control of the amount 
which he applies upon the wad, which, let it here be well 
understood, should never be large. Only enough to dampen 
the wadding should be applied and it should never appear 
through the rag covering except when it is pressed. This 
is very essential as will appear later and all novices at 
first err in that they try to apply too much shellac to their 
work at once. 

If it be dark colored wood that is being polished the 
orange shellac is good enough to use, but when such 
woods as holly or maple or other very light wood are be- 
ing treated, only the white shellac is admissible, as other- 
wise these light woods would be discolored and rendered 
yellowish toned. 

As the covering of a surface that has not been filled is 
now under consideration it will first be gone over with a 
slightly dampened chamois skin to remove any dust that 
may have settled upon it, and after a short time has 
elapsed to allow any dampness present to evaporate, take 
the pad filled with shellac in the way and manner de- 
scribed previously and proceed to apply it to the wood. 
As the first operation necessary is to spread the shellac 
about equally over the surface, rub the pad back and forth 
over it in such a way that each subsequent stroke will 

105 



THE MODEBN WOOD FINISHES. 

partly cover the surface just gone over in some such way 
as shown in Fig. 18 rubbing across the grain. After hav- 
ing gone over the surface, immediately proceed to rub it 
by a series of circular motions over and over again until 
the shellac has evaporated and been entirely squeezed out 
of the pad. Occasionally apply a few drops of raw lin- 
seed oil to the face of the pad so that the rubbing can pro- 
ceed without sticking. The linseed oil acts as a lubricant 
only and but for this purpose would be uncalled for. Even 
the little that is used must be entirely gotten rid of before 

the polish will appear, so it will be 

^ — easily seen that only the least 

____Z^> quantity possible for the purpose in- 

-^ > tended must be used as this will 

^ ___^^ cause a great deal of additional 

C work to remove it from the job, as 

Fig. 18. w jn k e seen during the process 

known as "spiriting off," in contrast to the opera- 
tion just described which is called "bodying in." 

The novice must be guarded against ever letting his 
pad rest even for a second upon the surface being rubbed. 
From the time it is placed upon it, let it be kept constant- 
ly in motion. When it becomes necessary to stop let the 
pad be lifted in a sliding way upward off the work. If 
the pad is allowed to rest for the least bit of time it will 
stick and that will make a break upon the surface which 
should have a perfect level. It will require probably 
hours of hard work to remedy the neglect of a moment. 

106 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

As the rubbing pad dries up from having become ex- 
hausted of the shellac it contained, more should be ap- 
plied to it in the way and manner described previously, 
being very cautious to use it sparingly. 

A partial polish or gloss will show up while the shel- 
lac is being applied and it is still wet, but this soon dis- 
appears in the drying as this substance sinks into the 
pores. 

After the piece of work has been gone over and 
rubbed with the circular motion sufficiently it should be 
laid aside to thoroughly dry which will take a day to, 
make a surety certain. These applications of shellac and 
rubbings must be continued as long as the job continues 
to absorb material. It is impossible to tell the number of 
applications necessary to bring the operation to a finish, 
as this depends on both the wood and the operator. As 
the center of a panel is likely to receive more attention 
than the edges are, one should be cautioned not to over- 
look these and never to slight them, as it is bound to de- 
tract from the appearance of the job. 

Towards the latter end of the operation of French 
polishing, the use of too much oil during the former rub- 
bings can readily be seen and felt under the rubbing pad, 
as the shellac softens and does not take hold properly and 
the surface will feel pitchy. To make a long story short, 
keep applying and rubbing the shellac till a thin film of 
it remains upon the surface of the wood without any fur- 
ther sinking in or disappearing. 

107 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

The same process must be used for surfaces that 
have been filled before the application of the shellac com- 
mences. It shortens the duration of the process consider- 
able, and is the rational manner of executing it for peo- 
ple as busy and go-ahead as the denizens of the New 
World are, but if, as was said before, a person is willing 
to pay for it, he should have it the other way by all 
means. 

After the thin film of shellac has appeared to stay 
upon the surface of the job it is ready for the finishing 
process which is called 

SPIRITING OFF. 

The operation called spiriting off is very similar to 
that of bodying in as the method of application and rub- 
bing is the same in the one as in the other with this dif- 
ference that instead of shellac being used, alcohol is added 
to the shellac at first in a limited way and increasing the 
quantity each time until the final rubbing is done entire- 
ly with alcohol. 

Spiriting off is resorted to to remove all oil that may 
be present upon the job, as no polish can take place as 
long as a vestige of it remains. Rubber marks and other 
smears are also reduced to a perfect level by this opera- 
tion. 

At first the proportion of alcohol added to the shellac 
used in rubbing should not exceed one-fourth of the bulk 
of the latter. In the next it may be one-half — in the next 

108 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

three-fourths, and so on, reducing the quantity of shellac 
used gradually until pure alcohol is used. 

When the stage of the work has been brought to 
where pure alcohol rubbings are applied a clean rubber 
only should be used. One should be very careful, as too 
much wetting of the surface with alcohol would so r ten 
the shellac and wash the body put there by the former 
process of bodying in, and all through the operation the 
workman must exercise great care not to let his rubber 
remain upon any portion of the work. 

While bodying in the covering of the pad should 
consist of but one thickness of the linen or cotton rag used 
for that purpose; in spiriting off , three or four thicknesses 
should be used, and the same care must be taken to re- 
move all creases and folds as in the former. As fast as 
the outer covering of the pad becomes dry, that one 
should be removed. When the next one dries, remove 
that also until the last, and when this one has dried re- 
move it, charge the wad over and commence again. 

The motion of the pad is similar in spiriting off to 
that in bodying, except that at the latter end of the pro- 
cess the rubbing should be done with the grain of the 
wood, and the last one must be so done. 

While it may seem easy enough to do spiriting off, 
from reading of the process, there is no operation in 
French polishing that requires so much careful attention 
and experience as this does, and novices seldom succeed 
in making a success of it at the first attempt; neither do 

109 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

they at the second. Time and practice alone will enable a 
man to thoroughly understand how to apply and rub 
properly, and while it is not the purpose of this writing 
to discourage anyone from undertaking it, it should be 
done at first with small articles of little or no value for 
practice, as articles of value are sure to be ruined. Until 
experience has been gained it is better not to undertake 
large surfaces at all, as only those of long experience can 
ever treat them successfully. 

As it has been said at the beginning of this chapter, 
French polishing is too slow for Americans, and as fine or 
nearly as fine a polish is produced by the much safer and 
faster methods of varnish rubbed and polished. French 
polishing may be said to have nearly disappeared al- 
though, in some parts of the country it is still adhered to 
but in a very limited way. The name even is being trans- 
ferred to varnish-rubbed polish work, and is used fre- 
quently by architects and well-posted men to denote the 
latter process of finishing. So no person need feel very 
sorry if he has been discouraged by reading the warnings 
given immediately above. Some may not become French 
polishers, and still become very good varnish-rubbed fin- 
ishers and do all the work that will present itself and 
never know a thing about the so-called French polish. 

A volume of details might be added to the above, but 
such minutiaof details would only confuse one more than 
they would serve to enlighten him. The above contains 
all the essentials necessary for French polishing and will 

110 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

suffice to enable one to "try it" if so inclined. Even as 
short as are the details given, the space occupied by them 




Fig. 19— The Motions in French Polishing. 

is greater than should have been given, when it is con- 
sidered how little of the work is likelv to be done. 



Ill 



CHAPTER XIV. 

WAX POLISHING. 

In the introductory chapter it was seen that previous 
to the introduction of "French polishing," and later of 
"varnish-rubbed polishing," wax polishing was resorted 
to for finishing furniture and the ancient oak woodwork 
finish wherever such was used, in dwellings. That its 
time of usefulness for such purposes is over is a certainty, 
but for all that it has a place to fill even to-day, and this 
wax polish has outlived all the other systems in use for it 
is still practiced extensively. 

Wax polishing has much to recommend it. It is in 
the first place easy to apply and to keep in good condition 
when through some cause or other its finish becomes 
marred. Secondly, it costs very little. On the other hand 
it is unsuited for the purposes for which it has been dis- 
placed by a varnished-rubbed polish. For furniture it is 
too easily marred by friction or knocks and is not nearly 
so brilliant as the former, nor has it that hardness and 
dry feel and freedom from stickiness; neither will surfaces 
wax-polished stand any dampness or wetting, as this is 
sure to destroy the polish. 

Oak seems to be the kind of wood that shows up best 
when wax-polished. The subdued polish it produces 
seems to be just the thing for it. Where a semi-gloss fin- 
ish is wanted, it would seem to be the "polish" indicated 

112 






THE MODEBX WOOD FINISIIEB. 

for that purpose; and it is, but for the drawbacks indi- 
cated. Any mishaps are, however, so easily remedied 
and repaired that one may often wonder why there is no 
more of it being done than there is. In rooms where there 
is constant knocking about of the woodwork, or where a 
high polish is wanted, it is easily understood why it is 
not used, but in all situations free from dampness and 
knocking about where an egg-shell gloss finish is wanted, 
it may be used to good advantage. 

For floors wax polishing it is used more extensively 
than for any other purpose, and justly so, when it is con- 
sidered that varnish, no matter how good it may be, must 
necessarily wear off unevenly upon a floor, as at the en- 
trance of a room or its exit near doors and between them 
a path will be made in time. The quality of the varnish 
only makes it a question of time as to how soon this will 
take place. Every finisher knows what it means to go 
over such worn out places for either touching so it will 
match the rest of the room or for giving the whole room 
a coat that will not permit the worn out parts to show 
through it. It is here, then that wax polishing is at its 
best. It mars easily, it is admitted, but it repairs just as 
readily, and no one can ever tell where the repairing has 
been done. 

The most serious objection to the use of wax polish 
is that it requires constant care to keep it in good order. 
So it does; but the time required to repolish it is so little! 
A person with a weighted brush can go over an ordinary 

113 



THE MODERN WOOD FIKISHEB. 

room, especially if it has been waxed several times before, 
in a few minutes — very little longer than it would take to 
sweep it. 

The process of wax polishing is very simple. Take 
beeswax, cut it up in bits and digest it in sufficient tur- 
pentine to make either a thick or thin paste of it, as will 
best suit the ideas of the operator. It will make no differ- 
ence in the end, the vehicle disappearing entirely by 
evaporation, and being only used to enable one to spread 
it more evenly. It takes some little time for the turpen- 
tine to dissolve the beeswax, but the process of solution 
can be hastened by the aid of heat. One should be care- 
ful not to subject the turpentine to open flames, nor to 
get it so hot that it will boil over, nor to heat it in a close 
room where the inflammable fumes might catch fire, nor to 
cover the vessel so closely that the vapors cannot escape. 
Ordinary caution must be used to guard against an acci- 
dent, and these warnings need hardly have been given 
here, as probably ninety persons out of a hundred who 
will read these lines know how to handle that article. 

This can be applied any way so it is gotten upon the 
floor. This is the one thing that is absolutely essential. It 
is true that it will be better to apply it with a brush the 
same as varnish, as this will leave it even and it will not 
require so much brushing to polish it level. If it be new 
work that has never been wax polished before, the first 
coat acts as a filler in leveling up, and only a very slight 
polish will appear upon it after it is brushed to a polish, 

114 



THE MODEBN WOOD FINISHER. 

so it is better to go over the surface again with another 
coat before there is any attempt made at the polishing. 
Before the second coat is applied the first should be dry. 
This will take place very rapidly as the vehicle is very 
volatile and will speedily evaporate. The windows should 
be open, if the work is done in the summer, to allow the 
fumes to escape and assist in quickening the evaporation. 
In the winter this is frequently impossible, and it takes a 
little longer waiting for the complete evaporation to take 
place. After the evaporation has been completed the 
brushing can commence. Any short-bristle, stiff brush 
will do, if made up somewhat like a horse brush but 
stockier. A good horse brush answers fairly well for 
small work, of course, and for polishing surfaces others 
than floors. For these a weighted brush is made which 
greatly accelerates the process, besides relieving the mus- 
cles of the operator. Fig. 15 illustrates the weighted 
brush. It has along handle, and the operator pushes it 
back and forth until the surface is sufficiently polished, 
which will be in a few minutes. Where the surface has 
become worn or marred from any cause, it is very easy to 
remedy it by the application of another coat of wax and 
rubbing it to a polish and no one is the wiser for it as it 
will not show any patching, which is next to impossible 
with any other finish. 

Subsequent rubbings have to be given to keep waxed 
floors in order, and in Europe many of the waxed floors 
are taken care of by contract for a stated sum, which in- 

115 



THE 310DEBX WOOD FINISHEB. 

eludes a rubbing each week or every two to four weeks f 
according to whether the rooms are used frequently or lit- 
tle. Some shops there have men who do nothing else 
but care for waxed floors, and again some go about secur- 
ing the contracts to take care of floors who are not con- 
nected with any shop, but who make a specialty of this 
kind of work. Again, in some houses, it is expected that 
some of the servants will do this, but this is very seldom, 
as it requires more muscle and strength than is usually 
possessed by women, and where a few possess the strength 
they lack the willingness, so that the discouragement 
from waxing floors, on account of its throwing work out 
of the hands of the painters, is not a good reason to give. 



116 



CHAPTER XV. 

OIL POLISHING. 

Linseed oil polish is probably the most ancient of 
any of which there is any knowledge. It is one of the 
simplest, and at the same time one of the most difficult to 
produce. Any one can produce it, but few will ever care 
to undertake a second job of it, if they can avoid it. For 
certain situations it is the only finish having a polish that 
can be relied on. For instance for table tops and bar coun- 
ter tops. The great difficulty, or rather the impossibility, 
of producing a finish by either varnish-rubbed polish or 
French polish that can be depended upon to stand hot 
dishes and hot liquids makes oil polishing a necessity. 
Neither varnish-polished nor French polished finishes can 
stand very much of it, and continual wetting and slops 
will in time ruin any of those finishes, even when the 
liquids are cold. Oil polish will stand all this and remain 
in good condition. 

The process of oil polishing is a very simple one. 
Apply either raw or boiled linseed oil upon the wood, not 
too much but about what the wood can absorb and be 
worked in by the rubber without leaving any surplus on 
it, and then rub— rub— rub, (it takes no end to it) with a 
rubber made of a heavy block to which has been nailed 
a piece of felt, or a piece of felt wrapped around a square 
Stone, Anything, in short, that has weight, for the 

117 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

weight relieves the operator's muscle from the too-fatigu- 
ing exertions that would otherwise be necessary to pro- 
pel the rubber with sufficient force. It is well to let the 
piece of work alone for a few days after the first rubbing, 
then take it up again and continue the operation des- 
cribed till a sufficient and satisfactory gloss is obtained, 
which will be in two or three months. In fact the finish- 
ing is never ended — in so far that it can never be rubbed 
so much but that another rubbing will not make it look 
better and it can never be hurt by too much of it. The 
process is too slow and expensive for America and will 
never become popular, although for the purposes indi- 
cated it should be used more than it is and where people 
are willing to pay for the best, they should have it. 



118 



CHAPTER XVI. 

SOFTWOOD FINISHING — WHITE PINK. 

Soft wood finishing does not differ very materially 
from hardwood finishing and the same general principles 
which apply to this govern that also. Stopping the suc- 
tion of the pores is as essential for these as it is for the 
others, as no penetration must take place. The same care 
must be taken in cleaning and preventing the flying 
about of dust and the same sort of treatment given as for 
any kind of finish that is applied to woods. If the hard- 
wood be a close-grained one the similarity of treatment is 
still greater; so that the difference is mainly in the fact 
that a cheaper finish is usually employed over pine. 

White pine is about the only wood that comes in un- 
der the designation of soft w r oods. This is rather arbi- 
trary, as has been seen, but the custom holds among lum- 
bermen and dealers and in a certain sense pine has pecul- 
iarities that belong to it alone. It is a close-grained wood, 
yet it is soft and absorbing. It can be colored to repre- 
sent any of the higher priced hardwoods, but on account 
of its lack of boldness of grain, its appearance when so 
treated proclaims an imitation on the face of it. How- 
ever, as this wood has little grain to show the staining of 
it in any of the pleasing colors, which make no attempt 
at the imitation of any particular wood, are in order and 
very useful and beneficial. 

119 



THE MODEBN WOOD FINISHES. 

Either water stains or oil stains can be used. Water 
stains, however, will be more difficult of application, for 
they seem to sink away out of sight as fast as put on, and 
if one has the mishap to touch over any part of the wood 
that was already touched by the previous brushful it will 
surely show a lap. Besides, if one should happen to lay 
it on heavier in one part than another it cannot be 
brushed out, as that will make it worse than before. Oil 
stains made of any transparent colors in oil, finely ground, 
and thinned with turpentine, can be brushed out the same 
as paint and a much more uniform surface can be obtained 
from their use. Besides they are so much easier to apply. 

If the staining be done before the filling, one should 
be very careful to rub it out so thin as not to make a film 
of it upon the wood, and to make sure of this the wood 
should be gone over after the staining and all surplus 
stain should be removed from it by wiping it with a 
woolen cloth. Oil stains do not dry as rapidly as water 
stains and usually require twenty-four hours of drying be- 
fore the filling is applied over it. 

The filling is usually done with a liquid filler. There 
are many of these manufactured ready-made, for which 
much is claimed. The most usual is that it is as good as 
shellac varnish and of course that it costs much less. 
Some of these do stop the suction very effectually, but 
others again not so well. Not that the suction is not 
stopped by any of them so that one coat of varnish will 
bear out upon it, but that in time the decay of the glue or 

120 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

the chipping of the rosin in their composition affects the 
coats of varnish disastrously. The above is not written to 
discourage anyone from using a good liquid filler which 
they know is all right by their own experience or that of 
people in whom they can place confidence, but for the 
purpose of putting them on their guard in the buying of 
liquid fillers. 

For filling over pine there is no question among fin- 
ishers but that shellac varnish is as good as anything that 
can be used. The cost is the only item that prevents the 
exclusive use of it. The grain alcohol shellac, being very 
high and the wood alcohol shellac itself also higher than 
the ready prepared liquid fillers, besides being very dis- 
disagreeable to some people on account of its pungent 
smell. 

The orange shellac stains pine to a beautiful tone of 
yellow, and frequently inside blinds made of pine are left 
in that finish. It requires somewhat of an expert, how- 
ever, to make a good job of this so as not to show laps or 
doubling over. The proper way to do this is to thin your 
shellac rather thinner than you would want it for ordin- 
ary shellacking over a flat surface. Mr. R. A. A. Bahre 
gives his method in Painting and Decorating. As it is a 
very good one it is reproduced here: 

Having in view the fact that the wood is very soft, 
he will dilute his lac somewhat with the spirits, to make 
it work free. Then with a double-thick flat-chiseled bris- 
tle brush about two inches wide he will apply a very free 

121 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

coat to the closed slats on the bar side, including the 
small ogee edge of the frame, taking care to daub none 
on the flat surface. Then quickly turning to the other 
side and opening the slats he will finish and lay off the 
sides, and again closing the slats, proceed to coat them 
upon the plain (non-bar) side, including the other edge 
of the frame. He will then return to the bar side, open, 
lay off and finish; then running the brush up and down 
the bar complete that portion of the work. It may be 
laid down as a rule that one section should be completed 
before another is started. When one portion is coated pro- 
ceed with the frame by coating the outside edges and then 
the center rail, cutting the joint clean. Then begin at 
one end of the stile and follow around until the starting 
point is reached being careful to always complete as you 
go on. 

"It is sometimes required to finish shutters in a 
hanging condition, but on account of the speed required 
in applying the shellac, there is much danger of spatter- 
ing the walls or windows. If, therefore, they are hung 
with loose joint butts, it will be found economical to re- 
move them and to finish them in a separate room." 

We have thus far referred to the shellacking of pine 
shutters with orange shellac. If one has acquired profi- 
ciency at this point, all the remainder will come very easy 
to him, especially when using white (transparent) shellac, 
which does not show the laps after varnishing. The 
whole secret of shellacking may be condensed in adher- 

122 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

ence to the following simple rules: First — keep a wet 
edge to work to; second— always work to a joint before 
stopping; and third— never repeat with the brush after 
becoming partly set, thereby causing it to "double up." 

A very common way to finish white pine where it is 
desired to leave it in its natural state, is to give it one 
coat of liquid filler and one coat of varnish or hard oil fin- 
ish. It is the cheapest way to finish, yet to the mind of 
many it is about as good a way as any and it is really 
very pretty, with its modest, non- assuming tone of satin- 
wood, and certainly it is much more tasty than the same 
surface would be when made to masquerade as black wal- 
nut or mahogany. 

Two coats of varnish are sometimes used, but it is 
unnecessary, if the suction of the pores has been properly 
stopped by the filler. In the cheapest kind of work the 
suction can be readily stopped by the application of a glue 
size and a coat of No. 1 varnish. It will in time probably 
chip off, and surely will, if moisture has access to the 
work. As this wood has no prominent grain that a high 
finish could possibly bring out, the high grade finishes 
are not really necessary, and the cheaper grades are more 
in keeping with its character. 



123 



CHAPTER XVII. 

THE VARIOUS WOODS USED IN WOOD FINISHING AND 
THEIR TREATMENT. 

Ash.— White, blue and black are all natives here and 
are also common to Europe. This wood is also to be 
found in many other parts of the world. All varieties of 
it are useful to the arts and manufacturers. It is exten- 
sively used in the manufacture of furniture and also in 
interior finishing. It is very porous and requires the use 
of a paste filler and shellacking over that to prepare it for 
any of the finishes. Its grain is straight and rather uni- 
form, but handsome and elegant and well worth develop- 
ing by the finest of polishing. Its very plainness indi- 
cates its use where rare and costly woods are used for 
panels, as it serves the purpose of making a frame for 
those and does not detract from their appearance by mak- 
ing a parade of its own. Ash is frequently used now in 
mixing with oak, which it closely resembles, especially 
plain sawed oak. When so mixed it is often difficult to 
tell one from the other, and even those who ought to be 
experts are tooled sometimes, especially when filled and 
colored to represent "old oak." 

Birch. — Black birch is certainly one of the most use- 
ful woods in the whole list to either the furniture manu- 
facturer or the house constructor. It has almost jumped 
to its high recognition as an ornamental wood in less than 

124 






THE MODE EN WOOD FINISHES. 

two decades, as men old enough to remember twenty 
years back will well recollect. Black birch takes on a 
very fine polish, as it is fine- grained. It has a fine ap- 
pearance of its own, and takes all kinds of stains well. 
Its natural color is nearly that of wild cherry, being 
rather light, so it is usually stained. It makes a pretty 
imitation of either black walnut or mahogany. By man- 
ipulation of the stains, feathered mahogany can be very 
closely imitated with it, and manufacturers of furniture 
prize it highly for that purpose. It enters largely in house 
construction also and would be still more commonly used 
but for the fact that its cost has jumped so very high 
that it cannot be employed as much as it deserves to be. 
All sorts of fine finishes are applicable to this wood. Fill- 
ing with a paste filler is not absolutely necessary previous 
to shellacking, and two coats of shellac, sandpapered, will 
usually bring the surface in the right shape for polishing 
processes of any kind. Yet while paste filler is not an ab- 
solute necessity, it is thought by many finishers, espec- 
ially if the wood has been stained, that a properly colored 
filler helps to bring out details that are desirable for some 
kinds of work. The above can be said of most all the close- 
grained hardwoods and need not be repeated hereafter. 

Basswood or Linden. — This wood is about as poor as 
any that grows in American forests, and is very seldom 
employed in house construction, and it is believed, not at 
all in furniture making, unless it may be for inferior 
backings, etc., requiring no finishing. It is very porous 

125 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

and absorbing and would be a stain absorber the same as 
pine, and the same caution is required concerning the use 
of water stains with it. It finishes only fairly well. It re- 
quires a paste filler. It has little or no characteristics 
worth noticing. 

Beech. — This wood is coming forward and is being 
used much more than formerly. Why it should have been 
neglected has always been a mystery to the writer, for it 
has a beautiful appearance when "quarter sawed" that 
belongs to it alone, and therefore it has a place for decor- 
ative work in both furniture making and interior wood- 
work finish. Red beech is especially fine, and a good im- 
itation of cherry can be made out of it. All varieties make 
fair imitations of walnut or mahogany when properly 
stained. Beech is one of the close-grained woods and re- 
quires the same treatment as noted under "Birch" to pre- 
pare it for polishing operations. It takes on a good polish, 
but not so fine as birch. 

Butternut — or white walnut, as it is frequently called, 
is very inferior to its black brother, and is not used very 
much even to make imitations of its "colored" relative. 
This is probably due to the fact that it is not very plenti- 
ful and not so easily worked up as other kinds of wood 
that are more plentiful and less refractory to work. It is 
very coarse-grained and requires lots of filler and at least 
one, and better two, coats of shellac on top of it to fit it 
for the finishing, which may be of any kind, as it takes 
on a good polish. 

126 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

Cherry. — Our wild cherry is eminently an American 
wood, as it grows nowhere else in a natural state. It is 
one of our best woods for many purposes, in its natural 
color or stained to resemble mahogany. It is susceptible 
of a very high polish, being very fine and close-grained. 
A very fine polish will appear upon the bare wood by ap- 
plying friction alone. It is very much in esteem among 
cabinet makers on account of its little likelihood of warp- 
ing, having as little tendency to deviate from the path of 
rectitude as any of our woods. As one expresses it, "I 
like cherry because it stays where it is put." It is easy to 
work and carve. From its close grain filling is not neces- 
sary and shellacking it will prepare it for any of the finest 
polishes. 

Chestnut. — This wood is so very spongy, so very 
easy to split off, and withal so very very open-grained 
that it is very difficult to fill properly, and lor these rea- 
sons it is seldom employed in furniture making, but in 
some sections it is sometimes used in house finishing. Its 
characteristics all the way through are coarseness. Its 
fibres run somewhat like ash, only in an exaggerated and 
more rambling sort of way without the strict regularity 
of the latter wood and as though it were half ashamed of 
itself. A good dose of paste filler well rubbed in, with 
two coats of shellac on top of that, will fit it for such pol- 
ishing as it is capable of taking. 

Cypress. — There are two or three varieties of this 
wood which are known as light, dark and bald, which 

127 



THE MODERN WOOD FIXISHER. 

are all useful in house construction for interior finish. As 
white pine is disappearing and becoming scarcer each 
year, cypress is made to take its place as far as possible. 
In many sections of country it is now being used almost 
exclusively for not only interior woodwork but for 
weather-boarding and cornice work finishing lumber. It 
is not affected injuriously by moisture, like many other 
woods, and is almost indestructible. It contains very lit- 
tle pitch. It has a medium grain with rather convex ten- 
denciesand when it is supposed to have been sandpapered 
smooth it is apt to quirl up again and again, so that it is 
not one of the ideal woods to finish by long odds. — Not in 
the estimation of the finisher. Its grain and growth are 
usually very straight in the trunk of the tree and they 
have little diversity, but while plain it is pleasing, and 
where the finishing is simple with no attempt at a high 
polish, or where it is varnish-rubbed to a dead finish, or 
where the last or a semi-gloss is produced by a wax pol- 
ish, it is all right and quickly done, especially with the 
latter. 

But while the trunk is plain in growth the butt cut 
and the knees furnish a "variegated" grained cypress 
that has enough diversity to suit the most fastidious. The 
writer remembers well the interior of a fine mansion in 
the city of Norfolk, Va., which was entirely finished (at 
least all the doors) with cypress that had been selected 
and saved for years at the saw mill of the owner of the 
house. He had selected all the finest specimens only, and 

128 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHES. 

the panels were equal to burl walnut for unlooked-for var- 
iation of the grain, only that there is more straightness 
of the fibres with little disposition to take to the rounded 
form. The finishers who had the job in charge were in 
despair at the fractiousness of the grain to appear after 
repeated varnishings and desperate rubbings, but gener- 
ally managed to bring the doors to a mirror polish after 
about two days of hard work having been spent upon 
each. So much for this useful wood. Do not try too much 
nor expect a high polish without having to work for it. 
Be content with a dull finish, and you have an ideal wood 
in cypress. 

Hemlock — Is seldom used in either furniture mak- 
ing or by house constructors. When it is, it is usually for 
panel work in connection with pine, as it is entirely too 
brittle for any other purpose. It is very similar to white 
pine, and to all intents and purposes of wood-finishing 
will require about the same treatment as has been ex- 
plained at length in Chapter XVI. where soft woods are 
specially treated of and the best methods of finishing de- 
scribed. 

Elm. — There was a time that seems very short to-day 
when elm had little or no recognized value at the saw- 
mills, but that time has passed now and the furniture 
manufacturers at least use large quantities of it in the 
make-up of cheap furniture. Some varieties of elm are 
even much sought afterand are high priced. The "rock" 
elm ot Northern Michigan, for instance, brings very good 

12!) 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

money to the timber owners who have had forethought 
enough to preserve the trees until now, instead of thank- 
ing some one to cut them down for a few pounds of wild 
honey and setting fire to them to get them out of the way. 
It is very coarse-grained and requires attentive filling and 
leveling up with two coats of shellac on top of that. It 
a fair polish. It is frequently finished in its natural color, 
takes and the same colorings that are used upon oak ar< 
applicable to this also. See directions given for oak be 
low. 

Gum. — Sweet gum, as it is known in many parts. 
The blue, the black and the white have all been added to 
the stock of woods used in both furniture making and in- 
terior woodwork. All of them are desirable for either 
purpose. They have a fine or medium fine grain that 
takes a fine polish and their grain is pleasing by their 
succession of waves like of lights and shadows, more than 
by an assertive prominence, as in oak or ash. It is hum- 
ble and consequently quiet in its effects, and deserves 
well the place it has taken for best bedroom woodwork 
finishing, library and all situations where no flourishes 
are likely to be wanted. On account of its closeness of 
grain a paste filler is not an absolute necessity, although 
it will not hurt it. It is suited to many kinds of stains 
but looks best as itself with a slight stain to accentuate 
the "lights" and develop the "darks" in it. 

Oak. — This is our most useful wood, and it is useful 
for more purposes than any other without any exceptions 

130 



THE MODERN WOOD FIX1S1TER. 

whatever. It would be a sorry day for all of us if by 
magic it should at the bidding of some genii all at once 
disappear as Alladin's great palace did, or is said to have 
done. Little can be said about its use in furniture manu- 
facturing or in house construction that will carry any in- 
formation concerning the use of this wood in either case 
as everybody is aware of its extensive employment. This, 
indeed, is justly so, for whatever of good other woods 
seem to possess as a peculiarity, oak seems to have a com- 
bination of them all, at least in some member of the oak 
family, of which we are said to have over forty different 
varieties in North America. There are general character- 
istics which belong to all, with many variations more or 
less accentuated and all have some use for which they are 
better fitted than any other member of the family. The 
white, red and black oak are the best known sorts and are 
used for all purposes indicated above. For all that most 
varieties are only moderately fine grained and some even 
what might be termed coarse, yet all oaks take a very 
high polish and look well in it. There is enough diver- 
sity in even plain oak to suggest that there is no servility 
about it; it is essentially a virile-looking wood. When 
quarter-sawed, its character is completely changed— in 
looks at least — and beautiful specimens are developed by 
that method of sawing, and when used for panels with 
plain oak or ash stiles it is brought out in a beautiful 
manner. It well deserves the name it bears of being the 
"King" of woods. Page after page of eulogy might be 

131 



THE MODERN WOOD FIXISITEB. 

written in paying His Royal Highness deserved homage, 
but space forbids. 

Oak, from its medium condition of openness of grain, 
must always be treated to a coat of paste filler, which 
must be given it before shellacking. As may be surmised, 
it is capable of being finished in all manners of polishing. 
It is frequently finished in its natural color, but it is sus- 
ceptible of being stained in a number of ways. One of the 
most beautiful ways of finishing oak is the " antique," 
and as that is but an imitation of what Father Time 
would naturally have done for the oak had he been given 
a chance, it is, for that reason, one of the sensible uses to 
which stains are put when used to antiquate oak. A nat- 
ural method of ageing oak has been described in Chapter 
VI., known as the ammonia process, and need not be 
given again in its details. Wherever the process can be 
conveniently employed it should be used. Stains can also 
be applied to it to obtain an imitation of it, but the lights 
will come through the stains in anything but a timid, an- 
tiquarian way and do not age worth a cent by that pro- 
cess. They will show as bright as newly-coined silver dol- 
lars every time. If the object is to enhance and bring 
out a greater contrast between lights and shadows, the 
wood should be stained by all means, and that seems to 
be the desiratum looked for by forty-nine out of fifty fin- 
ishers. Such glaring finishing, however, is more or less 
vulgar in the mind of aesthetic people of taste. It seems 
too assertive, it brings out the "me too" of this beautiful 

132 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

wood too much. This wood, as has been said before, is 
full of vigorous virility in its natural state and ought not 
to be made to parade with a "chip on its shoulders" as a 
" bully," which is foreign to its nature. 

It is preferable to stain oak in any of the colors of 
the rainbow and then bring the lights out still further by 
wiping the stain off of them and thus have something 
that will look pretty without any pretense of trying to 
imitate mahogany or walnut. A naturally pretty wood 
is prostituted when it is made to parade as something it 
differs from as far as the Bast is from the West in the an- 
atomy of its structure. It is as absurd as, lor instance, 
trying to imitate plain mahogany with birds-eye maple. 
If imitations are to be made, let woods be used with little 
characteristics of their own, whereby the proper use of 
stains to darken certain portions of their surfaces to make 
them resemble the wood imitated can be at least partially 
reproduced. Some will say that they are obliged to do so 
in spite of their better judgment, because Dame Fashion 
demands it of them. Finishers should argue with archi- 
tects and only lend their help to the debasement of "King 
Oak" after all efforts to prevent it have failed. 

Mahogany. — There is probably as much contrast be- 
tween this wood and oak as there is between white and 
black — in looks, structure and general characteristics. 
They have nothing in common, except one thing, and 
that is that neither is capable of passing for anything but 
what it naturally is. Mahogany is rather a feminine look- 

133 



THE MODEBN WOOD FINISHEH. 

ing wood, or rather its qualities — some of them at least — 
rather pertain to that gender. It is tasty and good look- 
ing and does not seem to be ashamed of it either; it takes 
it coolly and does not seem to be conscious of it for all 
that it knows it, and in this it differs somewhat from 
some members of the feminine sisterhood. It looks cosy 
and smooth, is improved by color and by age (another 
point of difference from those ot the feminine persuasion) 
and it can't talk back. It is coarse-grained, not regularly 
nor too coarse, however, and requires filling to accentuate 
it and bring out its fullness of detail. The filling should 
be colored with Italian burnt sienna, and after the filling 
it should receive two coats of shellac. 

There isconsiderable difference in the several varieties 
of mahogany. Some of it is naturally of a beautiful cherry 
red tone and others again are nearly white and rather in- 
sipid if not artificially colored. Some of it is rather soft in 
texture and again some has very little grain to show — in 
short this wood shows a great deal of variation and it is 
the prerogative of the finisher to so stain it and color it as 
to develop its beauty. Of course feathered mahogany is 
the form of this wood which is the most esteemed, and 
when possible this feathering must be imitated. This can 
only be done by the application of the stains with a cam- 
el's hair brush and going over the work with it in such 
a manner as to imitate the feather. It is in reality "grain- 
ing" on the natural wood. Some beautiful imitations of 
feathered mahogany are made thus. The art is not very 

134 









THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

difficult to acquire, all a person needs to have is an inti- 
mate knowledge of the habits of growth of the real arti- 
cle, and suitable tools and materials. Staining to imitate 
nature should be the purpose in view always. While 
feathered mahogany is very fine for panels, it should 
never be used for stiles. A plain mahogany is preferable 
for the same reason given before — that their very plain- 
ness serves to enhance the delicate tracings upon the pan- 
els and serves as a picture frame does to a picture, to hold 
it and to show it up. All kinds of mahogany are suscep- 
tible of a fine polish and are so elegant, so beautiful and 
gentlemanly-like, that one feels somewhat elevated after 
gazing at it; especially if the it be a receipted bill for an 
article of furniture made out of the solid wood. Mahog- 
any grows to a richer tone by age and the process of na- 
ture can be hastened by the ammonia process described 
for oak. It is in fact applicable to all kinds of woods that 
are beautified by age. 

Maple. — We have many varieties of maple differing 
very much from each other. Soft maple, for instance, is 
so much different from birds'eye that one would not rec- 
ognize it as belonging to the same family. Soft maple has 
little to call one's attention to it. It is coarsely made up, 
does not show up much of a grain and is seldom used foi 
either furniture or house finishing. Its time may come 
some day for a cheap finish, but it will be a long way off, 
it is hoped, as only a scarcity of the finer woods can ever 
bring it into favor for such a purpose. 

135 



THE MODEBN WOOD FINISHER 

Hard maple, and the specimen from it which is 
known as bird's-eye maple, is what we may call the 
"prettiest" wood that grows in North America. It can- 
not be gainsaid. If oak is king, maple is the queen of our 
woods. Its soft and delicate tracings are elegance itself 
and while it does not possess the richness of color that 
makes mahogany what it is, it is far richer than it in its 
grain. While the birds' -eye is the most beautiful form of 
hard maple — all hard maple lumber is of good form and 
veining. It is chaste and modest in the extreme and built 
somewhat upon the violet order; sweet-scented but unob- 
strusive to view, one having to look closely at it to dis- 
cover all its hidden glories. There is a feeling of repose 
and content produced by looking at a good specimen of 
bird's-eye maple that eminently fits it for bedroom furni- 
ture, and manufacturers have not been slow to use it for 
the purpose. It is emblematic of innocence and is emi- 
nently fitted for the furnishings of a sweet darling daugh- 
ter. 

Hard maples are close grained woods and need no 
filling, as it should always be finished in its own color, 
and that not darkened but kept as light as possible by the 
use of white shellac for filling and the whitest ivory var- 
nish to be found. Most all manufacturers of varnish make 
an article from carefully selected gums that is intended 
for such a use. It goes without the saying as it is a mat- 
ter ot course that hard maple takes on the finest polish of 
any kind of the woods. 

136 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

Poplar — is a very useful wood for a cheap finish. It 
works easily — nearly as easily as white pine — and can be 
used for many purposes of finishing in the place of it. It 
has little beauty of its own, and consequently can be bor- 
rowed to parade under some other name and as a substi- 
tute for a higher-priced wood. It is a good wood to imi- 
tate others with. Its marking are but few and unobstru- 
sive and not offensive to good taste. This is all that can 
be said for it. Treat it the same as indicated for white 
pine which it very much resembles, except that being a 
hardwood, stains take better upon it than upon pine. 

Pine. (Yellow) — This is a very resinous wood that 
has characteristic markings that are prominent and loud. 
It partakes somewhat of the makeup of one of the "par- 
venus" of Wall street parading the street with a pair of 
big checked pants, and who don't mind stepping on some- 
body's corns if somebody does not get out of their way. 
It has a self-important air, acquired by a 2% per month 
income, and "bon garcon" as it appears is nevertheless a 
gaudy affair. It is useful nevertheless for a multitude of 
purposes, but among the most prominent of which is that 
of ceilings, partition walls and floors and an occasional 
wainscot, chiefly because it is cheap and suits the taste of 
many people who want their money's worth of veining in 
the wood they buy. Being so resinous it should receive 
one coat of orange shellac for a filler and then one or 
more coats of varnish on top of that. It takes a fair pol- 
ish. 

137 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

Rosewood — Is an almost obsolete wood now and 
ninety-nine out of every hundred articles made that are 
sold under the name are imitations. The genuine wood 
is a bit coarser grained than mahogany and consequently 
requires more care in filling it, otherwise the same treat- 
ment is required for it as for mahogany. It has a pleas- 
ant, dark color with rather independent, abruptly- termin- 
ating veimngs that start in some direction with a good 
intention of getting there, but invariably get lost before 
they get there. It is closely imitated upon the cheaper 
woods the veinings being over-grained upon the stain as 
indicated for mahogany. All imitations should be highly 
finished to resemble the "genuine" which is capable of 
the highest finish. 

Sycamore or Buttonwood. — This wood is advancing 
in favor more and more day by day. The time when it 
was only fit for tobacco boxes is past and many are rack- 
ing their brains to find out why it was that they have 
been so long finding out that it was a pretty wood not 
only in borrowed feathers (stains) but in its own dear lit- 
tle self; for it belongs to the mignonne order. It is hardly 
sufficiently saucy as to pass for a soubrette, nor so sober 
as to pass for the governess. It is somewhere between 
these too. It makes nice panels for bedrooms and the 
lesser important rooms and is also used in furniture mak- 
ing for many articles. When it is ' 'quarter sawed it is 
very prettily veined and through chemical changes devel- 
ops a beautiful pinkish tone when covered over with or- 

138 



THE MODEBN WOOD FIXLSlIEIi. 

ange shellac and varnished over with a light varnish and 
polished, as it is rather a close-grained wood. Paste filler 
filling is not absolutely required but will not hurt it if 
properly done. It is susceptible of the highest polish and 
by any process. 

Walnut. — Our stately American black walnut is fast 
disappearing. This is sad, but it is true. As long as 
fashion has decreed that light furniture and light finishes 
for hardwood rooms is in order a person will hardly be so 
very inconsolable, as for all its beauty walnut is rather 
sombre-looking to suit many people who are already too 
much hippoed and given to look on the dark side of 
things, and who need to be bolstered up with something 
bright and enlivening to the feelings. Many people can- 
not help but feel lugubrious when in the presence of 
black walnut, as they associate the smell and looks with 
that which permeates the undertaker's parlors across the 
way. 

The Burl walnut is a chap entirely different from the 
plain article above described, and in its way is a beauty. 
It is usually sawed from the roots or the crotch walnut. 
It is also sawed from the forks of two large limbs. These 
two are the "Jim dandies" of the family, and they revel 
in luxury of form and color in all sorts of unexpected 
ways— in all sorts of divagations and in nearly every sort 
of form. Some specimens are unique, and it is no wonder 
(all jokes aside) that they now bring almost their weight 
in go— no, silver before their owners will part with them. 

139 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHEB. 

The owner of a lot of timber land not far away sold the 
walnut stumps on his land (the timber itself having been 
cut off long before) for twice the money that the land was 
worth. Europe is bowing at the shrine of American black 
walnut just now, and with what our own home demand 
for it is beside, have made this too much of an aristocratic 
wood for people of small and limited means. The fancy 
burl and crotch walnut is largely sawed into veneers and in 
that shape a little of it is made to go around a long ways 
and serves to give us a reminder of old times w T hen we used 
to cut them for fence rails and posts because they split so 
easily. We then cut $100 worth of timber to get 50 cents 
worth of rails, but we didn't know "it w 7 as loaded" then. 

Black walnut is rather an open-grained wood, vary- 
ing very much in different specimens, and needs filling 
with a paste filler colored to match the wood. It should 
also receive one good coat of orange shellac, which will 
suffice for a leveling previous to polishing, of which it 
will produce the finest. 

Black walnut being a dark-colored wood, needs no 
artificial addition in the shape of stains to make it look 
better; nor could any addition give it a better appearance 
than that which it naturally possesses. It is a pity that 
it is going away and does not see its way clear to grow 
fast enough to suit our wants. Like all good things, we 
seldom appreciate them while we have them with us in 
plenty. 

Redwood. — This Pacific slope product of our forest 
140 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

is coming rapidly forward for various purposes both in 
furniture manufacturing and house construction. It is of 
a rather soft texture and is medium close-grained in 
growth, and needs filling. A good way to produce a fine 
polish upon this wood is to add burnt sienna to the filler, 
apply, rub it off in fifteen minutes after the filling has 
been put on and let it stand forty-eight hours. After, 
apply two coats of shellac, rubbing each coat with fine 
sandpaper, then giving it two to four coats of good var- 
nish, let it dry thoroughly and rub with pumice and 
water and let stand a day; then rub with water and rotten 
stone, wash and clean off again, giving it a day to dry, 
and rub with rotten stone and olive oil until dry, and a 
fine polish results. There is no very prominent veining in 
redwood, and its dark color prevents it from being stained 
in imitation of any other, unless it be for ebonising, for 
which it is fairly well adapted. It is plentiful, but the 
long haul over thousands of miles of railway makes it 
come comparitiveiy expensive to use as compared with 
many other woods. Of course our Western States are by 
far the greatest users of this wood. 



141 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

FINISHING FLOORS. 

Iii the main the principles laid down for wood finish- 
ing in general apply with equal force to finishing floors. 
Only very hard woods can be advantageously used in lay- 
ing floors, and only such are ever finished. It is true that 
pine floors predominate, but these are usually covered 
with carpets and are never finished off. White pine is too 
soft in texture for floors that are laid to walk upon, and 
where that wood is used, the floors are better painted 
than left in its own finish. Yellow pine is extensively 
used in some parts and hard maple or white oak in many 
others. All the above-named woods make good floors to 
walk upon, that will stand. Yellow pine should be oiled, 
but will also make a good finish by being coated with a 
coat of shellac varnish and two coats of a good, substan- 
tial floor varnish. Some firms make a special varnish 
which they recommed very highly for this purpose. 

Shellac is very touchy about damp and wet, so one 
should be careful to have the varnish that is applied over 
it cover it well, to prevent the filtering of water upon it. 
A well laid floor should not have any cracks, but all floors 
are not well laid, and some do have cracks. In such 
cases, by all means fill up any openings in the floor 
to a level. Make a filling of the following composi- 
tion: 

142 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

Well soaked unsized paper 1 part 

Silver white 1 part 

Strong glue 1 part 

Dissolve the glue in sufficient water to make a paste 
of the whole, and apply with a wide putty knife. Substi- 
tute wood pulp for the paper, if it can be easily procured. 
After filling up cracks with this composition, proceed to 
the finishing. It will not discolor the wood. 

Oak and maple can be simply oiled and left in that 
condition. The operation is simple and easy. To either 
raw or boiled linseed oil add equal quantities of kerosene 
oil and naptha say from one-third to one-half of the 
quantity of linseed oil used, and brush over the floor. It 
requires two coats, at least, and three are better to oil a 
floor. These should not be applied over each other until 
all the greasiness of the previous one has disappeared. 

All kinds of wood (except white pine) used in floor- 
making can be advantageously treated to a "wax finish" 
as described in a previous chapter. If shellac with tv\ o 
coats of varnish is to be the finishing, make sure that you 
are using a good grade of varnish — one that you know 
something about — and there need be no trouble. 
THE END. 



143 



SYNOPSIS OF CONTENTS. 

Preface 3 

CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTION. 

The Increasing Use of Hardwoods in Interior Construc- 
tion—Reasons for Same — Painters Ought to be Fin- 
ishers—Wood Finishing as a Pseudo Art— Modern 
vs. Ancient Methods— Slowness and Uncertainty of 
the Old Processes.— The Subject Matter Divided up 
Under Various Sections— A Review of the Plan 
Adopted 5 

CHAPTER II. 

GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 

The Composition of Woods— Ligaments— Quarter Sawing 
Lights and Pores Reasons for Filling— Varnish- 
ing— Staining, etc. 14 

CHAPTER III. 

TOOLS AND APPLIANCES USED IN AVOOD FINISHING. 

Diversity of Opinion Concerning the Above— Pulver- 
ized Pumice Stone— Sandpaper— Rotten Stone— Tri- 
poli and Polishing Powders — Silex- Curled Moss— 
Horse-hair and Haircloth— Excelsior— Cotton Waste 
—Hemp and Flax Tow— Chamois Skins— SilkCloth— 
Vessels for Stains— Rubbing Felt— Varnish Pots 
Scrapers — Strainers — Tin Pails — Brush Keepers- 
Picking Sticks— Dusters— The Various Brushes 20 

CHAPTER IV. 

MATERIAL USED IN WOOD FINISHING. 

Material Used in Making Fillers— Colors Used in Making 
Fillers— Fixed Oils — Volatile Oils— Japans— Rubbing 
Oil— Material Used in Making Stains 37 

144 



THE MOBEBN WOOD FINISHES. 
CHAPTER V. 

SANDPAPERING AND PREPARING FOR THE FILLING. 

Poor Condition of Machine Sandpapering— Its Unfitness 
for Filling— The Main Cause of Varnish Cracking 
Proper Way to Sandpaper— Dusting. 4:} 

CHAPTER VI. 

STAINING AND STAINS. 

Various Kindsof Stains— Oil Stains— Good and Bad Points 
of Oil Stains — Water Stains- Good and Bad Points 
of Water Stains— Reasons Why Water Stains are 
more Useful than Oil Stains— Testing Board for 
Stains 46 

CHAPTER VII. 

A COLLECTION OF FORNULAS FOR MAKING STAINS. 

Water Stains, No. 1 to 3— Mahogany, No. 4 to 10— Walnut. 
No. 11— Rosewood, No. 12 to 13— Cherry, No. 14 to 15 
Oak, No. 16 to 18— Ebony, No. 19— Crimson, No. 20— 
Violet, No. 21— Blue Stain— Spirit Stains, Yellow- 
Yellow Reel — Mahogany — Ebony — To Brighten 
Stains— Aniline Stains— Mahogany— The last a Sam- 
ple Formula, Suitable for all Aniline Water Stains- 
Oil Aniline Stains— Uncertainty of Nomenclature to 
Designate Aniline Goods - r >6 

CHAPTER VIII. 

FILLING AND FILLERS. 

Reasons for Filling— Reviewing Old Methods and Progress 
Made in Fillers and Filling— Silex— Thinning Fillers 
—Their Application— Rubbing Off Fillers-Filling 
by Dipping-^Ready-macle vs. Home-made Fillers 
Formula No. 29, for Making Light Fillers— No. 30, 
for Making all other Fillers 

CHAPTER IX. 

SHELLACKING. 

Why Shellac Should Be Used Over Hardwood Fillers Mo- 
dus Operandi— Sandpapering Same— Substitutes for 

145 



65 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

Shellac— Oil Shellac— Grain Alcohol Shellac— Wood 
Alcohol Shellac— Formulas for Making Shellac Var- 
nish— No 31, Orange Shellac— No. 32, White Shel- 
lac 73 

CHAPTER X. 

VARNISHING AND VARNISHES. 

Making Ready for Same— Dusting— Rules for Putting on 
Varnish— Best Brushes to Use— How to Lay on Var- 
nish-Quick-Drying Varnishes— Cheap Varnishes- 
Architects Specify Brands of Varnish— Various 
Grades of Varnish— Material Used in the Makeup 
of Varnishes Reviewed— So-called Hard Oil and Co- 
pal Furniture Varnishes 81 

CHAPTER XL 

RUBBING. 

Number of Coats of Varnish Needed Before Rubbing- 
Five Rules Given for Good Rubbing— Material Used 
in Rubbing— Some Woods Rub Easier than Others- 
Felt Pads— Water and Oil Rubbing— How to Rub- 
Cleaning Up 93 

CHAPTER Xll. 

POLISHING. 

Dead Polish— Lustre Polish— Two Processes for Same— 
The Quick Process Described The Slow Process and 
Manner of Doing It— Cleaning Up 98 

CHAPTER XIII. 

FRENCH POLISHING. 

What is Meant by "French Polishing?"— Two Ways— Des- 
cription of the Better of the Two— Preparing for the 
Operation— Making the Rubbers— Shellac and Oil- 
How to Put on the French Polish— Spiriting Off— 
The Linseed Oil Must Be Gotten Rid Of— How It is 
done 101 

146 



THE MODEBN WOOD FINISHER. 
CHAPTER XIV. 

WAX POLISH. 

Good and Bad Points— Where it Should Be Used— Some 
Woods Look Best Under It— Floors Should Be Fin- 
ished With It— Processes of Wax Polishing Ex- 
plained—Brushes Used for Same 112 

CHAPTER XV. 

OIL POLISHING. 

The Oldest Polish Known— Good and Bad Points— How to 

Oil Polish 11" 

CHAPTER XVI. 

SOFT WOOD FINISHING. —WHITE PINE. 

Stopping Up the pores— Peculiarities of White Pine Con- 
sidered—Stains for Same— Best Under Colored Stains, 
Making no Pretense to Wood Imitation— Filling 
Liquid Fillers— Shellac Varnish— How to Orange 
Shellac Inside Blinds-Rules for Using Orange Shel- 
lac on White Pine— Varnishing 119 

CHAPTER XVII. 

THE VARIOUS WOODS USED IN WOOD FINISHING AND THEIR 
TREATMENT. 

Ash— Birch— Basswood or Linden— Beach— Butternut- 
Cherry— Chestnut— Cypress— Hemlock— Elm— Gum 
—Oak— Mahogany— Hard Maple— Yellow Pine- 
Rosewood— Sycamore, or Button wood — Walnut- 
Redwood 124 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

FINISHING FLOORS. 

What Woods to Use for Floors— Oiling Floors— Varnish- 
ing Floors— Filling Cracks— Wax Polishing 142 



147 



INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS. 

♦ ♦♦♦ 

Fig. 1, Rubbing Felt 24 

Fig. 2, Varnish Pot 24 

Fig. 3, Strainer 25 

Fig. 4, Varnish Brush Keeper 25 

Fig. 5, Picking Stick 20 

Fig. 6, Coach Duster 27 

Fig. 7, Ex. Ex. Stucco Wall Brush 28 

Fig. 8, Metal Bound Oval Varnish Brush 28 

Fig. 9, Picking or Rubbing Brushes 29 

Fig. 10, Bear-Hair Fitch Flowing Brush 30 

Fig. 11, Ox-Hair Fitch Flowing Brush 31 

Fig. 12, Bristle Fitch Flowing Brushes 32 

Fig. 13, Badger-Hair Fitch Flowing Brush 33 

Fig. 14, Camel-Hair Lacquering Brush 34 

Fig. 15, Weighted Wax Floor Polishing Brush 35 

Fig. 16, Rubbing Pad ( view of bottom) 103 

Fig. 17, Rubbing Pad (view of side) 103 

Fig. 18, Spreading Shellac in French Polishing 106 

Fig. 19, The Motions in French Polishing Ill 

;f) c't'a rid rJN tj% c r f i 

l 4» 4» 4» + 4» 4» 

INDEX TO ADVERTISERS. 

♦+♦♦ 

Woodhouse, Sam'l F 149 

Bridgeport Wood Finishing Co 150 

Whiting & Son Co., John L 151 

Cleveland Varnish Co., The 152 

Nice, Eugene E 153 

Rinald Brothers 154 

Crockett Co., David B 155 

Lucas & Co., John 156 

Moller & Schumann 157 

Billings, King & Co 158 

Atlantic Drier & Varnish Co 159 

Chicago Wood Finishing Co 160 

United States Varnish Co., The 161 

Martin & Co., L 162 

Woodhouse Excelsior Manufacturing Co 163 

Watson Co., Geo. E 168 

Adams & El ting Co Inside Front Cover 

Wadsworth-Howland Co Inside Back Cover 

Chicago Varnish Co Outside Back Cover 

148 



THE MODEJIX WOOD FINISHEB. 

Saves R^\abbirvg 



Dull-Eine 



Is a 



VARJVISH 



A PERFECT FINISHING COAT FOR ALL 
WORR WHERE A DULL FINISH IS WANTED 



pVj - | |_p|*-|/^ Is not a thin coating to put over a var- 
UUlI-CinC nishj but a Varnish in itself, full body, 
works free, dries hard, flows even: in fact is a perfect Varnish 
with a dull gloss, saving- all the expense of rubbing, and 
gives a far superior effect, as the work is even all over, which 
rubbed work does not give. 



. . HOW TO USE DULL-EINE . . 

Fill hard wood with Woodhouse's Paste Filler, one coat Woodhouse's 
Liquid Filler, one coat Dull-Eine. If a superior finish is required, 
give two coats of DULL=EINE, or one coat of Dull- 
Eine and one coat of Varnish. 

DulUEine can be used over a Varnished Surface. 

S. F. Woodhouse, 

FILLER and 
COLOR WORKS 




Frankford, 



Philadelphia, Pa. 



14'.) 



THE MODE Iiy WOOD F I XI SHE R. 



Wheeler's V 

Patent Wood 
Filler. . . . 

The Standard of Excellence, 

Unsurpassed and Unequaled, 

For the reason that it embodies in it advanced ideas 
as to what a Wood Filler should be, and must 
necessarily be. 

There is no other Wood Filler like it, for the reason 
that all the products that enter into it, are 
peculiar to us, and specially made and prepared 
by processes exclusively peculiar to ourselves. 

The results obtained with it, and economies, are such 
that in an unbiased comparison against every- 
thing else of its kind, it is cheaper than any 
other wood tiller on the market. 

The wood work on which it is used is particularly 
noticeable by reason of its bringing out its full 
life and making a permanent base for the var- 
nish to rest on. 

WHEELER'S PATENT LIQUID WOOD FILLER 

For soft and non-porous wood like pine, whitewood, 
etc., is what the Wheeler Paste Filler is for 
opened grained woods. 

APPLIED LIKE SHELLAC. NO WIPING OFF. 



Sole Manufacturers 

THE BRIDGEPORT WOOD FINISHING CO. 

NEW MILFORD, CONNECTICUT. 
NEW YORK, 55 Fulton Street . . . CHICAGO, 70 W. Lake Street. 



150 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 




A SKATING PARTY 

The Elf, spreading varnish with a Whiting's King Chiselled 
Varnish Brush— " Girls, it's very sleek; look out 
you don't fall!" 






The Whiting Brushes 

If brushes offered and claimed to be -'As good as Whit- 
ing's" were as good as Whiting's, they would be offered on 
their own merits. 

As The Whiting Brushes are the standard of merit, why 
buy others? You can get the genuine at lower prices than 
others, and be sure of having the best. If you are not using 
The Whiting Brushes, give them a trial, and you will be con- 
vinced of their superb points of excellence. 

The best wav to tell that you are getting The Whiting 
Brushes is to see^if they are stamped with the manufacturers 
name; you are sure of getting the genuine only when so stamped 

QUALITY BEST... PRICES LOWEST 

Manufactured only by 

JOHN L. WHITING & SON CO., BOSTON 

151 



THE MODEBN WOOD FINISHES. 



WHY USE 

PERMANEUE 
FLOOR. FINISH 



Perfectly Made 

Easily Applied * 

Readily Hardens tf?i))} ; 

Magnificent Finish ^S^P 

Always Clean 
* Never Disappoints 

ffffl)) Everywhere Sold 

^3P Relieves Housekeeper 

Economical 



Ask Your Dealer for our Booklet, 
"THE MODERN HOME." 



The Cleveland Varnish Co. 

. . . CLEVELAND . . . 



152 



THE MODERN WOOD EIXlSHEU. 



EUGENE E. NICE 



Manufacturer of 



f 






V 



Superior Interior 
and Exterior Wood 
Finishes= 



^ 9 



/ 



i 



9 



Our Wood Fillers, Inside "and Out- 
side Varnishes, Hard Oil Finish, 
and "Agate Floor Finish" 

. . Are^the . . 

StaLnda^rds for Qviedity 

Every one of them 



t ? 



272=274 South Second Street, 

PHILADELPHIA, U. S. A. 



153 



THE MODEBN WOOD FIN1SHEB. 

Porcelain Enamel Paint 



(REGISTERED TRADE MARK) 



A three-coat porcelain preparation, as durable as 
tiling on walls and ceilings. Does not turn yellow 
with age, and is not affected by soap or chemicals. 
Will not scale, peel or blister. White and Shades. 



Porceline 



(REGISTERED TRADE MARK> 



Highest grade varnish enamel for rubbing. The 
varnish is made from selected hard gum of best 
quality and the best French Zinc 



Majolica Enamel 



(REGISTERED TRADE MARK) 



Made from the same high-priced goods as Porce= 
line, but second grade in so far as the pieces of 
gum thrown out in selecting for Porceline were 
used to make the Majolica. Works easily, dries 
hard, rubs to any finish 



i^\-,,~ Rs-vi/- C\ff *->*<• A ten gallon assortment will interest you 
vUr OCJX V^Iier Write for it to 



Manufactured Exclusively by 



RINALD BROS., 

1142=1146 North Hancock St., PHILADELPHIA, PA. 

154 



THE MODEBN WOOD FINISHER 

. . . .THE^^^^> 

DAVID B. CROCKETT CO. 



MAKERS OF 



FINE VARNISH SPECIALTIES 

LEADERS IN OUR LINE DURING THIRTY YEARS PAST 

No. i. The best interior varnish for its purposes and price thai 

Preservative, brains and experience can produce. Less liable to scratch 
than any finish known. Is not affected by contact with 
chemical gases, steam or washing with hot or cold water and soap. For 
Finishing Hospitals. Dwellings. School Houses. Floors, Piazza Ceilings, 
Stables, Pantries. Laboratories, etc.. interior work on Steamships. Yachts 
and Vessels of all kinds. 

5 par ((imposed of the best materials purchasable, is the mosl 

Composition durable, the best known and has the largest sale of any 
Marine Varnish manufactured. Positively salt and fresh 
water proof, is invaluable for Exterior Marine Work of any kind, and as 
its name indicates particularly adapted for Spars of Steamships. Yachts 
and Canoes. Also a finish for Decks. Outside Doors, Piazza Floors. Store 
Fronts, etc It will not crack, turn white or blister. 

Waterproof ^ or Interior Floors. Laundries. Wash Rooms, Oil Cloths, Lin- 
Floor oleums, or where a varnish is required that can be frequently 
Finish. washed with hot or cold water and soap without injury, and 
will resist the action of steam and ammoniac gases. One coat 
applied to a new oil cloth or linoleum will double its durability. Can be 
rubbed and left with an egg shell gloss, which is superior to wax finishing 
and costs less. 

p a | e Since its introduction the commendation and sale of this 

Hard Oil Finish article has proved it to be superior to any in the market 
for all interior work. Can be relied upon to give full 
s;it Lsfaction when a cheap easy flowing varnish is required. 

Liquid For lnsi de or Outside Wood Work. Superior to Shellac 

Pigment Filler for undercoatings. Permanency far greater. Cost about 
one-fourth. All our goods can be rubbed and polished 
or left with an egg shell gloss. 

If local dealers cannot supply you, send direct to 

THE DAVID B. CROCKETT CO., 

BRIDGEPORT, CONN. 

SAMUEL SWAN, President. CHAS. F. TOWNER, Secy and Treas'r. 

Our "Architectural Hand Book" giving prices and full particulars 
sent Free on application 



AQUILA RICH PAINT AND COLOR CO., 
257 Dearborn Street, = CHICAGO, ILL. 

SOLE WESTERN AGENTS. 

155 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

LUCAS RELIABLE HELPS 

Lucas C. P. Umbers and Siennas. Unequaied for intensity of 

color, fineness of grinding, 

•and therefore of special practical value for staining wood work. 

Lucas Paste Wood Fillers. Do not dry out white; neither do they 

pull out when rubbing oft; they are 

translucent and do not obscure the growth or grain of the wood. 
They yield a smooth, hard surface that hold out the varnish and 
prevent valleys. We especially recommend our Rich and Pale Gold 
Oak and Oriental Green Paste Fillers. 
I nrn« finlrl CiaU Stflin A beautiful, clear, transparent liquid for 

Lucas uoia uaK stain. staining oa k and other h .[ rd woods | before 

or after tilling. Imparts a brilliant natural gold color to high lights 
of all hard woods. 

Lucas Liquid Wood Fillers. Are unequalled for priming or first 

M coating soft or close grain woods. 

They enhance the high lights, develop the growth of the wood, and 
hold out the varnish. 

Lucas Hygeia Floor Polish. A genuine high-grade wax polish. 

J => translucent, and does not obsecure 

the growth or grain of the wood. Dries hard and elastic. It is alto- 
gether the ideal polish for hard wood floors, parquetry, etc. 

I M.-qc Hvo-fMsi Flnnr Oil An excellent anti-dust and disinfectant. 
LUCaS nygeia riOOr Ull. Especlally recommended for floors and 

wood work of stores, hotels, hospitals and public places. Prevents 
the circulation of dust, microbes, and vermin. It is odorless; does 
not stick. 

Lucas Perfect Wood Stains. These stains contam no water and 

therefore will not raise the grain of 

the wood. They contain no fugitive dyes and are therefore permanent. 
They produce the most perfect imitations of high-grade hard woods. 

I nr«c Hard Oil IFini«;h Unexcelled for general interior wood 
Lucas naru wu iriiusu. wQrk I)ries with a brima iit gloss, will 

rub down with oil and punice. or water and pumice, and takes 
a high polish. 

Lucas Durable Floor Finish. A tip top, reliable article foi^new 

wood floors and unequalled as a re= 

newer or restorer of old wood floors. Works as free as raw oil. Sels 
up quick and dries with a naturai oil finish, the most elegant for 
hard wood floors. 

Lucas Elastic Floor Finish. A superior high-grade floor finish 
^,mwpj m-* c*^.. <~ Good body. Free working qualities 

Dries very hard. Will not easily mar or scratch. Especially recom 

mended for high-grade work. 

Lucas Standard Wax Finish For inside and outside use. Dries 

with a wax-like finish that obvi= 

ates rubbing down. _Highly„recommended for all wood work, except- 
ing floors. 

Lucas Inside Wood Preservative. S^g"&BfiS& w 

not spot. Can be recommended for finishing the wood work of bath 
rooms, lavatories, coach houses, stables.etc. 

Lucas Shellac Varnishes. Unsurpassed for general excellence 
and thorough reliability. 

Correspondence invited. Write for Sample Cards and Prices. 

Ifi II II I 1 10 10 Ofl Practical Manufacturers. Preservative 

UHN JUAO &j UU and Decorative Haterials for 

J U II II LUUnU SM UUij Practical Finishers. 

NEW YORK. ..PHILADELPHIA. ..CHICAGO. 

156 



THE MODEIt.X WOOD EIXI.sllEH. 



EUREKA SPAR FINISH 

For Exterior Use 

ELASTIC SPAR FINISH 

For Interior Use 

EUREKA ELASTIC FLOOR FINISH 
PASTE & LIQUID WOOD FILLERS 



MBr mi" . 

_ >Siliiiiii 







ESTABLISHED 1863. 
K MANUFACTURERS Of 



Margy s Cubing ,Aves.A Oersy aWallabout ^ts 
E3 R O O K LYN , NY. U.S.A. 



L51 



THE MODEMS WOOD FINISHES. 

YOU WILL NOT READ 

Urvless Interested 

IF INTERESTED, YOU WILL READ 
EVERYTHING NECESSARY TO POST YOU 



Space is not adequate for us here, but if you 
will write, we will be most happy to mail 
you particulars on the following — 

U. S. N. HARINE VARNISH— For varnishing wood work in 
kitchens, bathrooms, hospitals and all places subject to 
constant washing - ; it will be found very durable. 

N. S. N. CABINET FINISH— Regular and Extra Pale, for tine 
interior work. 

HOTEL FLOOR FINISH— In addition to floor work, it is the 
varnish for wainscoting, and all interior work where a 
high-class finish is required. 

DIAHOND FLOOR FINISH— For Floors. 

ALL=AROUND INTERIOR FLOOR FINISH— For good con- 
tract work. 

LIQUID WOOD FILLER, Light and Dark— For finishing all 
kinds of wood where a natural finish is desired, or for siz- 
ing walls before painting. Because of its high quality it 
will stand reduction with turpentine, and as a first coat- 
ing is equal to a coat of varnish. 



Every time you see the names. 



The BILLINGS=CHAPIN CO., Cleveland, 0., 
BILLINGS, KINO & CO., New York and Boston 



We respectfully ask you to associate them with High Quality 
(necessarily high figures, but True Economy, and disasso- 
ciate il with Trash (usually low figures), but Certain Loss. 



We can be addressed at 438 Pearl St., New York; 153 Con 
gress St., Boston; and Cleveland, Ohio. 

L58 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER 

^MM..M..M.....H.......M....nM 1 <H.H..n.M 



t 




„„„„„„„„„,„„„„„£ 



t 



Atlaurvtic Drier 
andVacrrvisK Co 



Manufacturers of 

VAR.NISHES 9 3 JAPANS 
WOOD 3 5 FILLERS 

Of Finest Quality 

at Lowest Prices for — — g 

BUILDERS ^ FURNITURE: MANUFAC- 
TURERS ^ AND *» ALL ^ CONSUMERS 
AND ^ DEALERS ^ ^ *' ^ ^ 



Factory and Main Offices 

PHILADELPHIA 



Offices and Storage Warehouses 

339 North Clark Street, CHICAGO 

204 East 74th Street, NEW YORK 

159 




THE MODERN WOOD FIMslIEH. 

We manufacture a 
complete line of Haterials for 

WOOD FINISHING 



THIS line includes Paste Wood Fillers, uncol- 
ored and shaded, for all woods and every 
style of Finish: Liquid Wood Fillers: "Twen- 
tieth Century'' Oil Stains (the only line of per- 
fectly transparent Oil Stains made); Spirit and 
Water Stains: Varnish Stains; Dry (powder) Stains: 
Primers and First Coaters: Second Coaters: all 
grades of Varnish, including everything from the 
ordinary qualities to the best Rubbing and Pol- 
ishing: Shellac Varnishes; a special line of Paste 
Wood Fillers, Oil Stains and Varnishes for 
finishing Birch: Shellac Varnishes: Polish for 
polishing Varnish; the largest line of Brushes, 
by far, carried by any house in America: Pumice- 
Stone: Rotten-Stone; Rubbing Oil: Rubbing Felt; 
Garnet and Flint Papers in great variety: Cham- 
ois Skins: Sponges, etc., etc. 

Chicago Wood Finishing Co., 

259 to 263 Elston Avenue 
and 12 to 18 Sloan Street 

. . CHICAGO . . 

Established in 1879. 

160 




THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

| United States $ 

% *fe Company $ 

* ♦ * ♦ \*/ 

f#\ Our unrivaled specialties \kd 

'I' for House Painters and Decorators .7. 

(t\ \i/ 

/l\ U. S. WHITE AND GOLD, FOR WHITE WORK ^|y 

(*\ U. S. FLOOR VARNISH, FOR FLOORS AND LINOLEUM jjj 

jL U. S. EXTERIOR AND INTERIOR FINISHES J? 

•li C. C. DAMAR AND JAPANS \{/ 

OS w 

(i\ v** 2616 and 2618 Colerain Avenue, J* ^ 

(t\ I CINCINNATI, O. S Of 



161 



THE MOBEEN ]\'(H)1) FIXlSHElt 





STANDARD OF QUALITY 




There are other Lamp-blachs p\at \ip in 


pacKag'es labeled "Germantown," b\it there 


was originally only one. It was "Old Stand- 


ard Germantown." It was the best then — 


it is the best now. We made it then — we 


mahe it now. 





THE L. MARTIN CO. 

ESTABLISHED 1849 

81=83 Fulton St., New York City 

. . . WORKS . . . 

Philadelphia, Pa. New York City, Hiddletown, 
Conn. Cincinnati, 0. London, Eng. 



The economy of "Old Standard Germantown" 
is the economy of the best; it lasts long, wears 
well, works well, goes far. It is the highest 
priced "Germantown" LAMP=BLACK made, 
but the results to the Painter are in proportion 



162 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

WOODHOUSE'S 

PREPARED^-* 

LINSEED OIL 



For all kinds of Paint where boiled or raw 
. . . Linseed Oil is used . . . 



This oil is not a substitute for Linseed Oil, but is a PURE 

Linseed Oil, practically and chemically treated, 

making it superior to either raw or boiled 

oil, for the following- reasons: 

WEARS LONGER, 

SPREADS OVER MORE SURFACE, 

RETAINS ITS GLOSS LONGER, 
WILL NOT CHALK OR CRACtt, 
DRIES PERFECTLY HARD, 

WORKS FREE UNDER THE BRUSH. 



. . . SEND FOR BOOKLET ON . . . 

THE LIFE OF THE PAINT.'' 



W00DH0USE EXCELSIOR MFG. COMPANY, 

703 Real Estate Trust Building, 



PHILADELPHIA, PA. 

in;; 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

15he Finisher 



\I 7HO wants to keep up-to date, and who 
" * wishes to have a large following of sat- 
isfied customers, should not lose sight of the 
fact that he must keep posted. No man can 
keep pace with the car of progress or be 
abreast of the times unless he keeps in tench 
with the world's advancement. The best and 
most convenient way to do this is to read the 
literature of the da3 T . There is no publication 
run in the interest of the Painter or Wood 
Finisher that can compare with The Western 
Painter. It is practical, reliable and progres- 
sive. It is published on the 15th of each 
month, is furnished at $1.00 per year, and its 
premium list is the largest as well as the most 
generous ever offered to painters. Each num- 
ber contains 80 to 100 pages, including many 
illustrations. Sample copies free on request. 
The editor of The Western Painter is a 
practical painter and finisher of many years' 
experience ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ & ^ ^ 



The Western Painter, 
Journal Building, = = CHICAGO 

164 




THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

VaLluocble Books for Pointers 

Practical Carriage and 'Wagon Painting'. 
Price $1.00. 

A very complete work, the latest out on the subject of car- 
riage arid wagon painting. It covers all topics pertaining to 
this branch of the trade, including every feature of the work 
from priming to finish, with a discussion of tools, materials, 
and paint shop appliances, giving many practical methods and 
formulas, and devoting one chapter to the painting of cutters 
and sleighs. The name of the author, Mr. M. C. Hillick, is suf- 
ficient guarantee of the high standard of the work. He has 
succeeded in making it plain and practical enough for all. 
Bound in cloth, well illustrated, and contains upwards of 100 
pages. Bound in silk cloth. This book and TriE Western 
Painter one year for $1.50. 

The Modern "Wood FinisHer. Price 50 Cents. 

This is a practical treatise on Wood Finishing in all its 
branches, including tools and materials employed, preparation 
of surfaces, stains and staining, fillers and filling, shellacking 
varnishes and varnishing, rubbing, polishing, French polish- 
ing, wax polishing, oil polishing, etc. Alsoafull description of 
the woods employed in wood finishing, their treatment, and 
the finishing of floors. Written by Mr. F. Maire, formerly 
editor of Painting and Decorating. Extra strong paper covers. 
About 100 pages. This book and The Western Painter 
a year for $1.00. 

Painter's Manual. Price 50 Cents. 

A practical guide to house and sign painting, varnishing, 
polishing, calcimining, papering, lettering, staining, silvering, 
gilding, glazing, etc., including a treatise on how to Mix Paint. 
To the learner this book is indispensable. This book and The 
Western Painter a year for $1.00. 

The Standard Scroll Booh. Price $1.00. 

A collection of about 200 designs. This book and The 
Western Painter a year for $1.50. 



Any of the above sent prepaid on receipt of price. 

The Western Painter, 
Journal Building, = = CHICAGO 

105 



THE M0BEB1S WOOD FINISHES. 

VeJvieLble Books for Pointers 

The Modern Sig'n "Writer and Up-to-Date Orna- 
menter. Price $1.50. 

A strictly up-to-date publication of great value to letterers 
and scroll painters. It contains modern and legitimate alpha- 
bets and designs for signs, flat and relief scrolls, ornaments, 
etc. Printed in colors, on heavy enameled paper with leather- 
ette covers. The tendency all along the line is to demand 
more artistic sign work. To meet this demand this work has 
been prepared, and it is the only publication which attempts 
to do it. It is the progressive painter's only guide to lettering 
of modern design, and is full of new ideas and "up-to-date" 
suggestions. It embraces all the modern alphabets, upper 
and lower case, and numbers. Also artistic and beautiful sign 
layouts, with rococo panels and tasteful designs, all of which 
were originated and designed for this work — also all the stand- 
ard styles. Here also will be found a beautiful collection of 
scroll work and flat ornaments, suitable for fresco painters and 
all others who are interested in ornamental painting. This 
book will be valuable to draftsmen, designers, architects, 
engravers, etc. If you want to do modern work you cannot 
afford to be without this book. This book was intended to be 
sold at $2.50, but we have secured a lot at a favorable price 
and are able to sell them at $1.50 each. This book and The 
Western Painter a year for $2.00. 

Scene Painting and Painting' in Distemper. 
Price $1.00. 

Gives full instructions in the preparations of colors, draw- 
ing for scene painters, stage settings and useful information 
regarding stage appliances and effects. Numerous illustra 
tions and diagrams. This book and The Western Painter 
a year for $1.50. 

Landa's Fancy A.lpHabets. Price $1.00. 

These alphabets are the production of a French artist, and 
have long been favorites. This book and The Western 
Painter a year for $1.50. 



Any of the above sent prepaid on receipt of price. 

The Western Painter, 
Journal Building, = = CHICAGO 

Kill 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHED. 

VeLlviacble Books for Pointers 

Grinnell's Hand-Booh on Painting. Price 50 Cents. 

Not a catch-penny publication, but a practical work of some 
200 pages, each one rilled with tested receipts and helpful in- 
structions, given in plain language by a man who has spent 
his whole life at the trade. The information contained in this 
book would be cheap at $5.00, but the author, who would 
rather help his brother painter than make money, insists 
upon the work being sold at 50 cents. This book and The 
Western Painter a year for $1.00. 

The Painters' Encyclopaedia. Price $1.50. 

Contains definitions of all important words in the art of plain 
and artistic painting, with details of practice in coach, car- 
riage, railway car, house, sign and ornamental painting, in- 
cluding graining, marbling, staining, varnishing, polishing, 
lettering, stenciling, gilding etc. Elaborately illustrated. 
Price $1.50. This book and The Western Painter a year 
for $2.00. 

How to Draw and Paint. Price 50 Cents. 

The whole art of drawing and painting, with instructions 
in outline, light and shade, perspective, sketching from na- 
ture, etc.; 100 illustrations. This book and The Western 
Painter a year $1.00 

Gilder's Manual. Price 50 Cents. 

A guide to gilding in all its branches as used in the several 
trades, such as interior decoration, picture and looking-glass 
frames, oil and water gilding, regilding, gilding china, glass, 
pottery, etc. This book and The Western Painter a year 

for $1.00. 

Sig'n Writing' and Glass Embossing. 
Price 75 Cents. 

A standard work, well and favorably known; illustrated. 
This book and The Western Painter one year for $1.25. 



Any of the above sent prepaid on receipt of price. 

The Western Painter, 
Journal Building, = = CHICAGO 

167 



27 1901 



THE MODERN WOOD FINISHER. 

WOOD FINISHING MATERIALS 



..OF ALL ftlNDS 




I'ALE OIL VARNISH 



OUR SPECIALTY 

"MONOGRAM" Pale Oil Finish For 

interior work. Is made from the best 
gums obtainable ; absolutely free from 
rosin: contains a large percentage of 
aged Calcutta linseed oil : finely filtered 
and aged one year before being ca nned ; 
pale in color, as its name signifies: 
works easily under the brush; and is 
very durable. It dries in twelve to fif- 
teen hours and can be rubbed in 
twenty-four hours. It is susceptible of 
a very high polish by rubbing with 
rotten stone and oil within fifty-four 
to sixty hours. A gallon should cover 
about -450 square feet over properly 
filled wood. Write for price . . . 

FILLERS— 

Liquid and Paste. 

STAINS— 

Oil, "VarnisH and Water 

SHELLACS— 

Of All Grades 



VARNISH REMOVER— 

"Will not injure the most delicate woods 
SAND PAPER— All Numbers 

STEEL WOOL— substitute for 

Sand Paper and Pumice for Pvubbing Purposes 

RUBBING STONE— ah mnds 

PUMICE Powdered and Lump 

BRUSHES OF Every Description 






£ Send for Complete Catalogue S- 

Painters' Supplies and Wood Finishers' flaterials 



GEO. E. WAT50N CO., 

..CHICAGO. ILL.. 



168 



Wadsworth *A *A 
Howland Co 



PAINT. 
and COLOR- GRINDER. 

♦ ♦ ♦ 

Manufacturer of 

OIL ? AND } VAR.NISH 
...STAINS... 

WOOD FILLERS, ETC. 



TEREBINE SHELLAC 

Fills all the requirements of AlcoHol SHellac 
•witK tHe following named important advan- 
tages: Costs less and -will cover a greater 
surface. Does not raise tHe grain of wood, 
consequently does not require sanding, and 
is equally durable. Anybody can apply 
-witKout fear of laps or streaKs J& J& J& J& 



. . . NEW LOCATION . . . 
Indiana Ave. and 13tH Street, CHICAGO. 



ft 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




014 050 465 8 • 



Supremis Floor Finish 



Gives a handsome and extremely durable finish. It requires little 

care, and does not have the dangerous slipperiness o! a wax 

finish. Send for our free booklet, " The Treatment 

of Floors. "■ You will find it of service. 



Shipoleum 



Is unequaled for the finest Interior Finish. It is remarkably durable, 
and polishes beautifully. 



White Enamelite 



An enamel paint for Colonial Interior Finish. It gives a beautiful 
finish, and is made of the finest materials. 



SEND FOR DESCRIPTIVE PRICE LISTS 



Chicago Varnish Company 

ESTABLISHED J 865 

Dearborn Ave. and Kuuie St. Pearl and High Streets 

CHICAGO BOSTON 

No. 22 Vesey Street 
NEW YORK 



